


Leave a Light On For Me

by yespolkadot_kitty



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comedy I hope, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Karaoke, M/M, POV Mako Mori, POV Raleigh Becket, Pacific Rim AU, Romance, Slow Burn, Suspense, a bit anyway, a lot of nonsense really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-01-07 09:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18408062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yespolkadot_kitty/pseuds/yespolkadot_kitty
Summary: Mako hightails it out of her home town after her father dies, but gets caught in a blizzard. Mechanic Raleigh tows her to her new home in Drift Bay where she meets a colourful cast of characters. The instant spark she feels with Raleigh needs investigating, but so does the spectre of someone clearly trying to scare Mako away from making a new life.Notes: Maleigh is the primary ship here, but there'll be frequent mentions of and appearances by Newmann.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I loved Pacific Rim when I watched it on release and watching it again last month, I loved it even more.
> 
> I've discovered quite a lot of lovely Raleigh/Mako fic on Tumblr and some here and thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. It's AU, I hope you like it. My first PR fic so please be gentle!

Mako Mori was stranded. 

In a blizzard.

She stared down at the cold dashboard of her Toyota, wondering what the  _ fuck _ had prompted her to make this journey when she’d heard from every possible source that the “beast from the east” would be due.

Right now the beast was taking a big bite out of her resolve to leave everything behind. To start fresh.

If she had the last twenty four hours over, she might not have been so bold.

Her phone sat cold in her hand, too. She’d put a call in to her breakdown cover, who’d made a vague promise forty-five minutes ago to send someone out.

Mako looked dully out of the window as the snow piled up. She’d bet her last fiver that they were all out on calls already, and would be for some time.

There was a lone kitkat in the hollow where the gearstick sat. Mako eyed it, then shook her head. She needed to save it for when she was really hungry.

Her phone started to chime and she jerked in surprise, then slid her finger across the little screen to answer it.

“Miss Mori, we haven’t been able to locate a breakdown recovery vehicle in the immediate area, but we have got someone coming to you - from the bodyshop in Drift Bay.”

Relief threaded through her. “Thank you.”

“He’ll be with you in around fifteen minutes, possibly more if the storm gets worse.”

The dispatcher rattled off the make and model of the recovery vehicle, then ended the call, and Mako stared at her phone for a second, half in relief and half in sheer tiredness.

She hoped it wasn’t time for her beloved Toyota to kick the bucket just yet. 

It irked her that she could take almost any computer apart and rebuild it to make it faster, but car engines were a total mystery to her. She’d tried; opening the bonnet and staring down at the twisted guts of the engine, trying to work out what was wrong in the metal entrails, but failing. She’d just driven without a thought apart from wanting to  _ get away. _

When the snow had almost blinded her she’d crawled back into the small car and huddled up, drinking the rest of her flasked green tea. That had long ago stopped warming her up and glanced back at the empty flask, annoyed with herself.

The flash of lights caught her attention, and Mako initially dismissed it as another driver, but then scoffed at herself. What idiot would be out in this? She hadn’t seen another car since she’d first picked up the phone to the recovery people (who probably also thought she was utterly off her rocker).

Maybe she was. 

She didn’t know anymore, sometimes.

The lights got brighter, closer, finally coming to a stop about six feet behind her. Someone got out of the cab. From here she couldn’t see much except to tell that he was tall, wearing a black knit cap, and warm, thick clothing.

The figure moved towards her car. She considered winding the window down then decided against it until he got closer. No sense him having to tow her car and her frozen corpse. She smiled a little at her own gallows humour.

He finally got close enough for her to make out a flash of the blue in his eyes, heightened by the black knit of his cap, pulled low.

She pressed the button and the window slid down three inches. The cold barged in, the wind so strong it might as well have hands that slapped her across the face.

“Mako Mori?” His voice was deep and even. Scruffy locks of dirty-blond hair escaped his watch cap, one lock curling down over the centre of his forehead to make him look boyish, cheeky.

“Yes. That’s me.” She heard the shiver in her voice and imagined he thought her an idiot.

“I’m Raleigh, from the local body shop. Hell of a day to be out in it,” he said, but without heat in his voice. She waited for the judgement, for the  _ what made you travel today of all days,  _ but none came. “What’s the trouble?”

“The engine cries when I turn her on.” It was the only way she could think of to describe the banshee-esque noise that had made her jump in her seat. “And there’s a smell.”

If she’d smelled that from a computer, she’d have immediately performed last rites for it.

Raleigh pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “Frozen rotor, maybe. All right, well, it’s cold enough for me not to want to stand around debating it. Let’s get you home. You’re… not from the Drift?”

“No.” She didn’t respond to the curious note she thought she’d detected in his voice.

If he was offended, he didn’t show it. “Go sit in the passenger door of the cab,” he said, jerking a thumb towards his own vehicle. “There’s a flask of coffee if you want it. I’ll get the cables.”

Mako started to move, then hesitated, feeling uneasy at the thought of him doing all the donkey work in the near middle of the night, in a blizzard that was fifty percent blinding.

“Can I help?”

His gaze moved over her for a second, as if assessing her size. Many people underestimated her when they first met her, mistaking her slight form for weakness.

“You’ll freeze,” was all he said.

She opened the door of her Toyota and stuck a leg out. “That ship has sailed.”

Slamming the door, Mako trudged after him as he made for the truck, head down to compensate for the whirling, howling wind.

He pulled open a hatch in the side of the cab, wound through cables, and tossed one to her. “Sure about this?”

It beat sitting alone in the cab of his truck, watching him do stuff. She’d never been one to sit on the sidelines when she could be taking action.

“I’ve been sitting on my butt for what feels like hours.” She gripped the cable and followed his lead.

He gave her instructions on what to do with the gears while he attached both cables underneath the front bumper of her car. Then as she watched, her frozen little friend was slowly reeled on to the ramp of Raleigh’s truck.

He jerked his head towards the cab. “Might as well get in now. I’ll look after her for you.”

She started a bit, surprised at his concern for her car. That he called the vehicle  _ her _ and not  _ it. _

Maybe  _ did _ think she was off her rocker for driving in his blizzard.

Mako stepped up into the cab and buckled herself in to the passenger seat. The interior smelled faintly of motor oil, a sandalwood-esque aftershave, and the heavenly scent of freshly brewed coffee. She spied the flask in the cup holder behind the gearstick and felt a heavy twinge of sympathy for Raleigh Becket, who’d drawn the short straw at coming out to tow her tiny car back to civilisation. 

A few minutes passed, during which the blizzard kept up its ferocious howl.

Mako felt a sudden brush of cold as the driver’s door opened and Raleigh hopped inside, snow already coating his shoulders and the top of his black hat. He pulled the knit cap off, releasing a messy head of dark blond hair, tousled and curled in places.

“Ready?”

She nodded.

“Where you staying?”

She reeled off the address of the apartment she’d rented near the college, sight unseen. It had been available immediately and she’d wanted to go immediately - it had a shower and a kitchen and a bed, and that had been all she’d needed to know.

He turned the key and the truck fired to life. They set off, the engine noise very loud in the silent, white surroundings of snow as far as the eye could see.

Mako looked out of the window at the endless white, punctuated by lights on inside houses, and thought about her father.

“You travelled far?”

The easy cadence of Raleigh’s voice snapped her back to the present, to the hum of the engine. “Yes.”

She chose not to elaborate and to his credit, he didn’t needle her. She reflected briefly on how lucky she’d been, in the lucky dip of breakdown recovery people, to score a guy who seemed to understand that she just want to  _ be _ without being questioned.

She had questioned herself enough on the long drive here, after all.

The miles passed by slowly, until Mako saw a sign, partially obscured by fallen snow, that read DRIFT BAY - 2.

A few birds flitted across the darkness of the sky, their slender shapes emphasized by the white of the snow falling, still steadily. 

They pulled up outside the apartment building where she now lived. Mako stared out at the nondescript, squat tower, wondering how Drift Bay would adapt to her. And she to it.

“Need a hand with your bags?” Raleigh’s voice jarred her out of her reverie. 

“Please.”

His eyes were very blue in the darkness of the night, with the snow glowing white behind him. Mako grabbed her duffle bag and one of the boxes of carefully organised belongings. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Raleigh shoulder the bigger duffle and then grab two stacked boxes. His leather jacket stretched as his muscles moved and she couldn’t help the purely female reaction of her belly clutching in appreciation.

She turned away before he saw her looking, and fished the keys from the pocket of her jeans. The rental company had sent them ahead and she was thankful for that now - she couldn’t see anyone hauling themselves out here in the snow to let her inside.

“I’ll be fine from here.”

He gave her an easy-going smile that she’d bet could drop panties at twenty feet. “Won’t hurt to see you inside.”

Mako made no comment and jiggled the key one handed until the lock turned. Her apartment was on the ground floor, not ideal but fortunate for when heavy bags were a factor. In the dimmed lights of the hallway she made out the door for apartment 3 and made a beeline for it. The lock turned without a fight and she groped for the light switch. The sudden brightness in the small, near empty lounge area made her blink.

The scent of sandalwood over motor oil told her Raleigh was right behind. He set her bags down in the corner of the room.

Mako turned and found herself almost chest to chest with him. The top of her head reached his shoulder.

“Thankyou.”

His blue gaze searched hers for a second. “You’re welcome. The, ah, recovery people gave me your number. I’ll let you know when she’s ready to pick up.”

She nodded, grateful, but just wanting to unpack her duvet and crawl under it, and sleep for hours.

Raleigh handed her a small, smooth rectangle and she stared at it for a second before taking it. “Your bodyshop is called  _ Gipsy Danger _ ?”

He shrugged. “My brother and I used to go to monster truck rallies together. It’s what we would have called our truck, if we’d ever got to drive one.”

“Okay.” There was something there, something he wasn’t saying, but she was so tired she might have fallen asleep standing up.

Raleigh headed for the door and then gave her a playful mock salute. “Nice meeting you, Mako.”

With a soft  _ click _ of the door, he was gone.

Mako didn’t bother to examine her surroundings too much. Inside thirty minutes, she’d unpacked the necessities and lay under her duvet. The exhaustion from the long trip stole over her and she slept like a stone.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Any excuse to speak to Raleigh again!  
> And Mako meets Newt and Hermann.

 

Mako woke with a start, surfacing from a dream of a lover with Raleigh’s blue eyes, at first wondering where she was. A glance outside the window of the compact bedroom told her the infamous Beast from the East hadn’t relaxed the grip of its jaws just yet.

She padded to the window on bare feet. Outside a blanket of white covered the land, and the eerie sound of silence made her feel like she was wearing earmuffs.

Not wanting to dwell on her own thoughts too long, she grabbed her phone and plugged it into the mini speaker she used when working on the innards of computers. David Bowie’s  _ Modern Love _ sashayed out of the pores of the speaker, lifting her mood immediately.

She sent a text to her Best Friend Forever, Emma, to let the other woman know she was okay. She should have opened up to Emma immediately,  _ knew _ she should have, but Trying To Do It Alone had been Mako’s jam from the day she could walk.

The shower proved fairly powerful, and to her relief the heating still worked despite news reports on her tablet saying that power outages were rife across the entire country.

There were also numerous reports of people stranded overnight in their cars, or of them having abandoned their vehicles entirely and walking miles to shelter or to their homes.

Mako shivered in her oversized cardigan.  _ That could have been me. _

Thank goodness for breakdown recovery.

And for a mechanic with azure eyes and messy hair who had braved the snow for her sake.

She thought she might take him a bottle of something nice when the weather cleared, to say thank you properly.

The other myriad ways to say thankyou clouded her vision for a sec and she laughed silently at herself. She had no idea if he was single or even interested.

She busied herself with getting dressed, and then sent an email to the college to inform them she’d arrived safely and was ready to start work whenever they were open again. All the local educational establishments had closed due to the weather when it had been forecast; a red warning kept most people off the streets.

_ Except people running from loved ones they’ve lost. _

The HR officer she’d emailled replied within five minutes and Mako realised dully that it was a Tuesday - of course a skeleton staff could have been running the college, but many people would have been working from home.

Her new job at the local college, which provided students with A Levels in Info Tech, Computer Science, Food Tech and Woodwork. Their budget was limited, so Mako’s job was to repair and rebuild the computers in their storeroom to save buying new where possible. She’d also be advising the college what to buy and how to maximise their tech on the lowest budget.

Considering she’d only sent feelers and her CV out a few weeks ago, it was a miracle she’d scored anything to do with her skills.

Then again, maybe she’d have upped sticks even if she hadn’t been this lucky.

Anything to get away from the empty space at the dining table, from the image of the lowered coffin, strewn with flowers, that was burned into the inside of her eyelids.

 

******

 

By the early afternoon, the snow had stopped. The silence still felt very loud as Mako exited her apartment building and ventured out, her boots sinking into the inches-deep snow, white as innocence, untouched by humans. A few stray cat prints littered the blanket.

She locked the door and stared out ahead of her, then lifted her phone from her pocket and dialled Emma.

“Hey, stranger.”

Mako winced at her friend’s voice. She’d deserved that. “Hi.”

“I’m so happy you made it.”

“Me, too.” Mako made her way slowly through the slow, in no hurry, trying to enjoy the moment for once; focus on the journey, not the destination. “In no small part thanks to a local mechanic who towed me home. Good thing I have a job right away, so I can pay for a new… whatever.”

“That bad?” 

Mako could hear the sympathy in Emma’s voice across the miles. “Probably. The engine cried like a baby when I turned her on.”

“Oh, honey.”

“I’m on my way to the body shop now. Google says it should be open.”

Emma laughed. “I don’t know what you would have done if you’d been born in a world before there was tech. I guess it doesn’t matter, though. You’d still be badass. And you’d have found a way to have blue hair.”

Mako absently touched the blue tips of her black hair, a small rebellion she’d had as a teen that had stuck. It took maintenance but it had been worth it, and now the near-indigo shade of blue was a part of her as much as the natural colour of her hair. “I’ll miss you.”

“ _ Everyone _ will miss you. You know your job here will stay open, don’t you?”

She and Emma had worked for the same firm, an up and coming tech company part-owned  by Mako’s father. Emma was a tech whiz, listening to computer parts like an Equine Trainer listened to horses. She was happiest when elbow deep in wires and cogs, trading banter with her husband Steve, or trying to avoid being tripped up by her cat.

“I know. And maybe one day. I just needed a mental sabbatical.”

“Well, I’m here for you wherever you live. Just don’t move anywhere without phone signal.”

Mako heard the pouring of dry cat food into a bowl and then a plaintive meowing. 

On the other end of the phone, her friend tutted. “Don’t look at me like that. I  _ know _ Steve snuck you some tuna this morning.”

The meowing stopped. Mako laughed.

“Okay, I need all my attention to navigate the snow, now.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Emma instructed.

“Never.”

She slipped the phone back into her pocket and concentrated on avoiding the patches of ice woven in between the snow drifts. Even the road signs had taken a battering, some so covered in frozen-over snow that they were impossible to read altogether.

It took just over twenty minutes to make it to the bodyshop, the snow slowing her down considerably. As she approached, the tinny sound of a radio playing  _ Uptown Girl  _ by Billy Joel told her that someone, at least, was at work. An outside heater blasted out warmth and the pavement directly outside the shop had been swept and scraped clear of snow and ice.

The tufted blond hair and the well-muscled shoulders poking out of the innards of a car engine delineated Raleigh to her eyes.

The music was blaring so she walked straight up to the car and cleared her throat.

Raleigh’s head jerked up and hit the bonnet of the car - not hers, a cute, mint green SUV mini that she had immediately coveted.

He rubbed a grease-black hand over his hair sheepishly, his eyes meeting hers, the colour of the sky after a storm clears. “Hey. Mako, right?”

“Right.”

He shouldn’t have been so appealing. But she wanted to sink her hands into his dark blond hair, make it stick up in more angles. Wanted to feel that days-old stubble on her cheeks as she kissed him greedily. 

She swallowed down the sudden, one-two  punch of desire. She hadn’t felt the like of it in years.

“I wanted to have a look around town, and Gipsy was on the way, so..” she trailed off, feeling awkward explaining herself.

Raleigh picked up the slack easily. “It’s definitely a frozen rotor. I removed it this morning, but the new one I ordered will take a couple of days.” 

Mako noticed he knew more than he was saying. “And?”

He raised a brow.

“Your face says there’s something more,” she added.

“Well…” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, smearing a bit of grease there. Mako felt a sudden urge to wipe it off with the red bandana looped loosely around the collar of his leather jacket. “One of your tires looks like it’s been cut. With something other than a sharp rock on the road. Assuming you had a long journey, I’m amazed you made it.”

Mako’s stomach clenched. “It could have been a rock, though?”

Raleigh lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug, but his face said he was pretty sure it hadn’t been.

Refusing to dwell on it - if someone  _ had _ cut her tyre back at home, they were over a hundred miles away now, at least - she mentally pulled up her big girl pants. “When do you think it will come in?”

“Depends on the snow.” He held her gaze, sympathy in his. “You need a car in the meantime?”

“I can walk to my new job. At the college.”

They looked at each other for a moment and Mako started to feel self-conscious. What else did she have to say, really?

“Thanks for looking at my car,” she settled on. 

“I’ll let you know when she’s ready,” Raleigh promised. His eyes were very blue and she was reminded of his star role in her x-rated dream last night.

He gave her the same cute, lazy salute he’d given at her door yesterday and bent back to work.

Mako made her way into town - such as it was. The college was on her route, and she was surprised to see a few lights on. Curious, she tried the door, and it opened. She supposed the skeleton staff were indeed in to keep things running, and for those local students who might have wanted to use the library.

She checked the site map in reception. The reception area was closed but a sign had been laminated and stuck up advising of which departments were open. Scanning them, she didn’t see IT on the list, but decided to take a punt anyway and followed the arrows.

IT was located on the second floor of the main building. Mako swung open the door and the sound of voices filtered down the hall.

“...If you would just remain on  _ your _ side of the room.”

“What are you, five?”

Curiosity got the better of her and Mako approached the office and knocked on the door.

It swung open to reveal two frazzled men, one tall and gangly, wearing a old-style sweater vest and leaning on a cane, the other, shorter, with stuck-up dark hair, slightly wonky glasses, and a white shirt rolled up at the elbows.

“Hi.” She raised a hand, feeling awkward now.

The taller one recovered first and limped over, a hand held out. “Dr Hermann Gottlieb. You are, perhaps, the new tech we’ve been promised?”

“I am. Mako Mori.”

“Delighted,” Dr Gottlieb replied, and bent slightly over her hand. Mako was sure she saw the younger man roll his eyes before he too, came to greet her.

“Dr Newton Geizler. But, most everyone calls me Newt.”

Mako shook his hand, too. “So you two…”

“We, ah, lecture here in Computer Science,” Newt responded. 

Mako’s gaze flicked to the line in chalk drawn down the middle of the room. It extended almost as far as the ceiling.

Dr Gottlieb followed her gaze but said nothing.

“I thought I’d come and have a look around before I start - whenever that is,” Mako said into the increasingly awkward silence.

The tables were strewn with computer parts on every available surface. 

The blackboard was covered with all kinds of equations and algorithms in chalk.

She curled her fingers into her palms, anxious to get started on all those pieces of metal that needed homes.

Newt gestured to indicate his work surface. “Assuming you don’t have anywhere else to be, you could start, ah, now? I’m, struggling here, could use a fresh pair of eyes.”

“Of course, don’t offer the lady a drink or any hospitality at all,” Dr Gottlieb drawled from the corner where he’d retired back to something he was writing.

“I don’t see  _ you _ offering,” Newt snapped back. “You want a coffee?”

Mako stifled a smile. 

It seemed like she was going to fit in just fine around here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a surprise hug for our two would-be lovers, and more Newt and Hermann, because, never enough of those guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!! All errors entirely my own.

When Mako walked past  _ Gipsy Danger _ at just after six, Raleigh was winding down the security shutter.

The snow was still deep on the ground, iced over and knee-deep in places, and she was glad of her big boots. People often commented on her “gothy” look - big boots, blue-tipped hair, dark lips.

But neither the two doctors at the college or Raleigh had mentioned anything. It was… refreshing.

“Hey,” he called out as she approached.

He wore the knit cap over his tangle of dark blond hair. Tufts broke free and flirted around his ears and the collar of his thick leather jacket.

He fell into step beside her, shoving his hands into his pockets. She heard the jangle of keys.

“You worked here alone all day?” she asked, curious.

“Me and Billy Joel,” he smiled. “The others couldn’t make it in. Oh, by the way. Your new tyre will be in by Thursday if the weather doesn’t get worse.”

“Thank you.”

They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“Enjoy your wander around the metropolis that is Drift Bay?” Raleigh asked.

Mako laughed. “I actually went to visit my new job and I met… my new bosses? Or at least my new co-workers. Dr Gottlieb and Dr Geiszler.”

“They still arguing?”

She glanced at him, surprised. “They do that outside the college, too?”

“They’re usually together wherever they go. Word on the street is that they actually do like each other, more’n they want to let on.”

Mako thought over her afternoon. “I’d ship it.”

Raleigh’s lips quirked. “What does that mean?”

Mako sidestepped a patch of ice. “It means that I believe in the concept of them as a fictional couple.”

“Thanks for  _ that _ image,” he groused good-naturedly.

They both laughed for a moment. 

Raleigh stopped when they reached the end of the street. “Listen…. Did you eat yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Then… Dinner? With me, I mean.” The faintest flush crept up the part of his neck visible above the banana and leather jacket. 

It was  _ adorable. _

“Sure. But it’s  _ on _ me. It’s the least I can do, seeing as you had to come out in the Beast from the East to tow my car.”

“No problem. It’s the job.”

“Do you usually tow cars?” Mako asked as he gestured, indicating he’d lead them somewhere that would be open and serve food.

“Sometimes. The Drift’s a bit out of the way, you know? So I lend a hand whenever.”

They turned a corner and the smell of food woke up Mako’s stomach. She’d hardly eaten since last night, and this afternoon had subsisted on black coffee whilst elbow deep in computer parts. Heaven for her brain, not so much for her stomach.

Raleigh stopped outside a pub with a sign emblazoned with the word “Eureka.” “Best burgers I’ve ever had.”

“Sold.” She could have devoured a few burgers after walking in the cold - snow drifts were as much work as thick sand.

He held open the door for her and she walked through, hit by a welcoming wall of warmth and the underlying buzz of chatter. The unprecedented snow hadn’t kept the residents of Drift Bay away from their local watering hole.

The horseshoe shaped bar sat at the back of the large room. Two men manned it - one in his mid forties, the other in his early to mid twenties. They looked alike.

“Herc and Chuck Hansen run the place,” Raleigh explained. “Chuck is Herc’s son.”

A piebald bulldog snoozed contentedly by the edge of the bar beside a short stack of empty beer delivery crates that were either there for aesthetic value or because no one had time to move them.

Raleigh guided her to one of the few booths on the left hand side which afforded a little privacy. Mako slid in opposite him and took a menu out of the plastic stand out of habit. She glanced at him over it as he tugged off his knit cap, ran a hand through the tumble of his dark blond hair.

“You’re not what I expected.”

A half smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Better or worse?”

_ Hotter. Much. _ The words burned on her tongue, but she’d known him all of five minutes. It was too early for that. So she pretended not to have heard his question and looked at her menu. From the amused expression on his face, he had her number.

“Different,” she settled on. “What’s good here aside from burgers?”

Raleigh leaned back against the seat and shrugged his leather jacket off. Mako didn’t follow suit yet, she hadn’t quite defrosted from the winterscape beyond the windows. 

“Burgers are a safe bet.”

They both looked up as the younger man - Chuck, Mako recalled - sauntered over with a pad in his hand and a smirk on his clean-shaven face. He lifted his chin in greeting to Raleigh. “Beckett.”

“Evening, Chuck.”

He turned his attention to Mako. “You the new tech? Chuck Hansen, pleasure to meet you.”

“News travels fast,” Mako observed as she accepted his handshake. He was a fine-looking man, his face all angles, but he didn’t spawn butterflies inside her the way Raleigh did.

“The perils of small town life. How’s business, Ray?”

Raleigh’s lips firmed. “It’s  _ Raleigh _ .”

“Right.” Chuck held the mechanic’s gaze a little too long to be friendly, before turning back to Mako. “What can I get’cha to eat?”

They both ordered loaded burgers and diet sodas. Chuck’s gaze lingered on Mako curiously for a second too long before he swaggered off to see about their food.

Mako search Raleigh’s face. “Is he always so…”

“Pretty much.” He grinned. “But the burgers  _ are _ fantastic, so.” He busied himself adjusting his bandana, but Mako wasn’t fooled, he  _ had _ been riled by the younger man.

As they waited for food she regaled him with her day, the snippets of arguments between Hermann and Newt. He told her about the problem with the Mini he’d been working on when she’d stopped by earlier.

It was full dark by the time they’d eaten. Mako pushed back from the table a little, struggling not to cradle her stomach.

“That burger was the size of my head.”

Raleigh nodded. “ I’m seriously impressed that you finished it.”

“I will  _ not _ need to eat until tomorrow evening.” She pulled the bill towards her. Raleigh reached for it, but she pulled it out of his grasp. “I said it was my treat.”

“It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t at least try to pay.” When she gave him what Emma called her patented Mako Death Stare, he lifted his hands in defeat. “I’ll buy next time.”

As Mako smiled and pressed her card against the reader proffered by a server, she wondered if there would be a next time.

She was not long out of a toxic relationship and grieving for her father. And she hadn’t let Raleigh in on either of those things.

_ I didn’t want to tonight, _ she realised. 

She hadn’t wanted him to look at her with pity, to treat her with kid gloves.

What was the point of a clean slate if you dragged all your crap along to the new place with you?

He held the door open for her when they left the pub. 

Fresh snowflakes were falling and Raleigh groaned out loud. “Are you fucking kidding me.”

She sent him a sympathy-filled glance. “Will you be alone again tomorrow?”

“We’ll see. Walk you back?”

Mako started to say that she’d be fine, that she could do it alone, but suddenly Raleigh’s question about the cut in her tyre flashed through her mind.

“Thanks,” she said instead.

They walked side by side in the snow, Mako stepping carefully in places to avoid the iciest of compacted snow. Much of the pavement had been gritted, but a lot of the snow that didn’t get touched by any rays of sunlight had frozen solid.

The moon shone down, full and fat tonight, hanging amid a clear blanket of pinprick stars.

Mako stared up at them a moment and wondered which one was her father.

They reached her apartment building - well, hers for all of one night so far - in companionable silence. Mako turned to face Raleigh and thank him, but misjudged a patch of ice between their bodies and skidded. Her arms windmilled for a scant second before Raleigh grabbed her, yanking her close for a moment that seemed to stretch as she looked up into his blue eyes, dark azure with flecks of flinty grey.

Mako curled her fingers into the thick material of his leather jacket, warm from his body heat. 

“You okay?” Keeping her steady with one arm, he lifted the other and gently brushed the fall of her short hair back from her face.

Mako righted herself and this time, her boots found traction. “Thanks.”

He dropped his arms and she missed the heat for a moment, then turned to unlock her door. “See you tomorrow maybe, on my way to work.”

He gave that cheeky half-salute she was starting to like, a lot. “G’night, Mako.”

She stood in the doorway and watched as he walked away, as he became smaller and smaller among the streetlights that blazed brightly in the pitch black of the March evening.

 

*****

 

He stood in the trees, watching the two people. When Mako stepped back into the doorway, he smiled to himself. That was good; she hadn’t invited the scruffy mechanic in. 

Sighing with relief, he realised that he  _ had  _ been right. She just needed some space from their relationship to think things through in light of her father’s death; he understood that.

For now, he would do nothing more than what he’d already done. The tyre was just meant to shake her up a bit, and he hoped it had made her see sense. But it wouldn’t hurt to hang around a few weeks longer, make sure she did intend to come home to him after her little jaunt to this bumfuck town. Because what could possibly keep her here?

 

*****

 

The cut tyre was still bothering Mako as she sat in her new office - well, the large room she shared with Newt and Hermann - sorting parts from several barebones kits. A barebones kit consisted of all of the parts needed to build a desktop computer from scratch. Kits were meant to contain parts that were one hundred percent compatible, but some mistakes had been made this with one. She turned the processor fan over in her hands, looking for the right connections.

A few feet away, Newt wrote line after line of equations on his big white board. Muse played at a low volume in the big room. Hermann wouldn’t have tolerated such music, much preferring Bach or Chopin, but the older man was out delivering a lecture for the few students who’d managed to hike to the college in the bad weather. 

Mako liked the music. It stopped her thinking of other things. 

She reached across her desk for a grounding strap before starting work, thinking with amusement how different this environment was to her previous job. Pentecost Tech was a top operation. She’d had a lovely corner office with a big shiny window, six floors up. She’d people-watched with her first chai latte of the day.

But some of the other employees didn’t think she had earned it - they didn’t know that Stacker Pentecost worked her just as hard as anyone else. Maybe harder, because he knew that being adopted had given her a huge chip on her small shoulder.

The phone next to her chirped and she started, not used to such a loud ringtone. She glanced at Newt but he was thigh-deep in equations so she picked it up. She was being summoned to HR to complete all her new job paperwork.

By the time she returned, Hermann had, too. The two men worked at opposite ends of the room, neither one speaking to the other. Chopin played at almost full blast. Newt wore Dr Dre headphones. Mako shook her head in amusement. She bent back to her work, pleased to have seen the HR people and to have set hours and a contract. Three months. She could make it three months, and then re-assess. Like Emma had said - she’d always have a home back at Pentecost Tech no matter what. It was just too painful to be home right now.

She was so absorbed in her work that she almost didn’t hear the ping of her mobile. When she picked up, little fireflies of excitement danced in her belly at the sound of Raleigh’s voice.

“Hey, Mako. It’s Raleigh.”

“Hey.”

“New tyres and rotor came today, so by the time you finish work tomorrow, your car’ll be ready for you.”

“That was fast.”

“Never pays to keep a lady waiting.”

Mako hesitated in replying. She wanted to keep him on the line, but didn’t have a reason to. “See you later.”

He echoed her and she hung up, looking up from the call to see Newt and Hermann both staring at her.

“What?”

Newt spoke first. “Your face is red.”

_ Wow, thanks, _ she almost bit out, but self-consciousness won and she touched a hand to her cheek. It felt warm.

“It’s rather impolite to say that to a lady don’t you think, Newton?” Hermann interjected.

The shorter man crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes so hard, Mako was surprised they didn’t pop out of his head. “Oh, that’s right, get on your high horse and pretend you weren’t listening.”

“I was merely-”

“Guys.”

Two inquisitive pairs of eyes turned to look at her at once.

“This is my  _ second  _ day.”

They both had the grace to look a little ashamed of themselves. Hermann shuffled off on his cane and Newt pretended to get very busy rubbing stuff off the board.

Mako smiled to herself a half hour later when Newt brought her over a coffee that she could only assume was also an apology.

“It’s, ah, hard not to listen in to calls in a room this size.”

Mako nodded in agreement.

Newt rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “He’s a cool guy, you know. Becket, I mean.”

“I know what you meant.”

Newt grimaced. “You know, you don’t make things easy?”

His words made her laugh. “It might help if I knew what you were trying to do.”

“I mean… you could do worse.”

She picked up the coffee and breathed in deeply. “It’s my  _ second _ day.”

“So….”

“Maybe wait until my second  _ week _ for relationship advice?” she replied dryly.

She bent back to her work and heard Hermann’s low chuckle as Newt retreated back to his blackboard, the back of his neck a blush pink.

Honestly, neither of them seemed to have any concept of personal space.

She kinda liked it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Creepy footprints and a potential date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks anyone who's sticking with this. :)

_ Gipsy Danger _ was closed when Mako passed after work. Disappointment sank like a stone in her stomach, but really, Raleigh wasn’t her friend - or, not yet anyway. He was just working on her car.

She stopped by the local grocery store anyway, picked up a bottle of red. Red was always a safe bet.

As she wrapped herself in a blanket on the faded leather sofa that had come with her apartment, and lost herself on Netflix on her ipad, Mako thought she could maybe get used to this. To just being Mako Mori, not “Mako, daughter of tech giant Stacker Pentecost.” It was nice, for now, anyway.

Nice to have moments when she didn’t miss her father so much it hurt like a gaping wound.

Nice not to feel suffocated in a relationship that had turned toxic fast.

Nice not to try so  _ hard _ every single day and still not feel good enough.

She didn’t realise she’d drifted off to sleep to another episode of  _ Orange is the New Black _ until a noise jerked her awake. A sort of… shuffling. Rats?

Fully awake, Mako looked around in the dark. The only light came from the screen of her ipad, where a “are you still watching?” message was static on the screen.

Feeling like an idiot, but knowing she would stay on edge if she didn’t search for anything amiss, she grabbed the bottle of wine she’d bought for Raleigh, and wielded it like a weapon as she checked each room of the small ground floor apartment.

Lounge: empty.

Bathroom: empty.

Tiny kitchen: empty.

Bedroom: empty.

Satisfied, but exhausted after the adrenaline rush, she dumped the bottle of wine back at the door, checked the locks.

They remained intact.

It was only when she crossed back to the sofa to get her knitted throw and bring it to bed that she noticed the faint bootprints outside her window, partially obscured by fresh snowflakes.

  
  
  
  


*****

After a restless night, Mako woke early. The urge to pack up and run home was strong. So strong that she’d tossed a few items into the bigger of her two duffles before she’d squared her shoulders and pulled up her big girl panties. Whatever this was, and it was likely just teenagers bored due to the unprecedented snowfall - she was  _ not _ running back home with her tail between her legs.

By the time she got dressed and forced herself to venture around the side of her building, the footprints had gone . She  _ knew _ she hadn’t imagined them. 

Mako inhaled deeply. It was nothing.

Just like the cut tyre was nothing.

She shook it off as Taylor Swift advised and headed to work.

This morning, a large portion of the snow had gone, and birds sang. Frost hung in the air, nipping at Mako’s exposed skin with its sharp fingers, but the sky was bluer than she’d seen it for weeks.

The promise of Spring floated just out of reach.

She swung into the college, desperate for caffeine. As soon as she got her car back tonight, she and the little Toyota were going to the nearest big supermarket, and Mako was going to buy  _  all the food. _ What she’d brought with her and offerings from the little corner grocery store had sustained her for a few days, but God, had she missed cooking. She would take the budget she had set herself - she had no desire to dig into her trust fund at the moment, Stacker would have wanted her to use it for something meaningful, not just groceries - and buy flavours.

When she passed  _ Gipsy Danger _ a man she didn’t recognise worked on a truck that looked older than her grandfather. Phil Collins blared out of the back of the bodyshop and she winced. Raleigh’s taste in music was more her bag.

Hermann worked alone when Mako set her backpack down and he glanced up, giving her a polite if distracted smile. Bach played softly from the corner of the room. Newt was nowhere to be seen; she assumed he was off lecturing.

A lecture from the frazzled, permanently hyper Dr Geiszler would certainly be a sight to behold.

“He doesn’t mean to offend, you know.”

Mako looked up from her work an hour or so later at the sound of Hermann’s voice.

“Newton,” he clarified. “He merely has a habit of becoming… excitable.”

“I gathered that. And I wasn’t offended.”

Hermann nodded and went back to his work, clearly relieved.

Mako wondered idly if they had feelings for each other. At the very least they were pretending to actively dislike each other. If they spent a lot of their time together as Raleigh said, at least one of the kooky pair were protesting too much.   
She ate lunch while exchanging a few texts with Emma. Her friend wanted to come up for a visit, but there was no way Mako’s apartment was ready for that. She’d barely touched it or added anything that could even be loosely considered “decor.”

If she wanted to really make a go of a new life here, that had to change, and fast.

Whilst she finished her third green tea of the day, she pinned a few decor ideas on Pinterest. She’d ask her new landlord what the decorating rules were this evening.

The rest of the day flew by as she busied herself examining the rest of the barebones kits in the office, making notes as to what else was needed and which parts needed to be scrapped or returned to the retailer.

Her phone chirped as she was getting ready to leave. The number wasn’t recognised but when she opened it, a smile spread across her face.

 

_ Car’s ready for you whenever. R. _

 

She called out a goodbye to Hermann as she left the office. He grunted in reply, knee-deep in thoughts as he wrote something in an ancient notebook.

Outside, much of the snow had melted, and the anxiety around Mako’s heart loosened a little bit. Somehow the tyre and the footprints seemed less scary when the world wasn’t covered in a big blanket of impenetrable white. It  _ would _ be ok.

And if it wasn’t, well, she would have her car back today, and if she felt she needed to go home, however painful that would be, so be it.

The front of  _ Gipsy  _ sat empty when Mako arrived. A car was suspended centre stage and the strains of Jet’s  _ Are You Gonna Be My Girl _ wove through the strip-lit interior of the bodyshop.

Mako ventured through the maze of wooden tables and past another car, stripped of one of its doors.

A door to what looked to be a back office was ajar and she peered in. The music was louder here, and Raleigh sat at a desk in the corner, head down, bandana - navy blue today - pushed up over his forehead, holding back the boyishly, unruly curls of his dark blond hair.

She knocked.

He glanced up, blinked, and then, seeming to realise who she was, he stood up, dragging off the bandana and stuffing it in the pocket of his leather jacket - worn, warm brown today. That lazy, warm smile curved his lips. Mako wanted to kiss him, find out for herself how that smile tasted.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” She could drown in that deep blue gaze of his.

He opened a drawer in the desk, fished around, and pulled out a set of keys she recognised as her own. When she held out her hand, he dropped the key in, and when their fingers brushed, she felt an electric little tingle skitter up her arm.

“She’s out in the back alley.” He jerked a thumb and led her out of a side door. Mako followed, pleased to see her little Toyota looking good as new, shiny to boot.

“You cleaned her. You didn’t have to.”

“Never let it be said that you get half a job at  _ Gipsy Danger. _ ” He lifted a hand to rub at a perceived speck of dirt, and Mako started when she spotted a cut on his hand. Without thinking she grabbed his arm and turned his palm up to inspect it.

“This might be quite deep.”

He bent his head to look. “It’s a scratch.”

Without thinking, Mako tugged the bandana out of his jacket pocket and wrapped it over the deep, but thin, slice. “You should put something on it.”

He lifted amused blue eyes to meet hers. “Thanks, Mum.”

Scowling, she dropped his hand, and suddenly remembered herself. Not really appropriate to fuss over him like a mother hen. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s nice - as you can imagine, none of the boys working here would shed a tear if I did myself an injury.”

“They should. You’re the only one who can get here in the snow, after all.”

He chuckled. The smile softened all the lines of his face, made his ruggedness so attractive and warm. She had a sudden urge to tell him about the footprints outside her window. To get his take on it.

But they had only met days ago. She hardly knew him, but the kindness in his half grey, half blue, eyes, made her feel that she did. She instinctively felt  _ safe _ with him.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” She dropped the keys in the pocket of her coat and slipped the backpack off her shoulder. Opening it, she fished the wine out and proffered it.

He raised a brow. “What’s this?”

“A thank you. You know. For hauling my car back here in the snow, after I was stupid enough to drive in a blizzard.”

Raleigh’s expression softened. “I didn’t think it was stupid. And for the record, I’ve done a  _ lot _ of stupid things.”

“Take it, anyway.”

“Thanks. Really.” He accepted the wine, examining the label, his expression one of impressed appreciation. 

“You’re welcome.” Again stuck with the sensation of wanting him to stay, and not knowing how to make that happen, Mako slipped her pack back on and unlocked her car. “What do I owe you?”

“Bill’s in the glove box.”

She opened the door. She got halfway behind the wheel before he braced a hand on the door before she could close it.

“Looks like a great bottle of wine. Share it with me?”

Mako searched his gaze for a second. The thought of spending the evening with, instead of alone with Netflix, wondering about peeping toms, appealed. Hugely.

“What time do you finish?” she asked.

One corner of his mouth tipped up in a slow smile. Her favourite to date, the panty-dropping one. “An hour or so.”

She rattled off her address, picturing him in her apartment. He’d fill the space, blank out all her fear of being alone.

And even better, even better than not being alone, she’d be with  _ him. _

“See you there,” he promised.

Mako closed the car door and drove away, her heart light, her stomach giddy.

Raleigh stood in her rearview mirror, hands loosely tucked into the pockets of his worn, darkwash jeans. The wind whipped at the ends of his scruffy hair, and she thought:  _ he’s perfect. _

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Maleigh-heavy chapter, with some wine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking I need a PR rewatch to get Raleigh's voice right. Any excuse..... :)
> 
> Thanks, readers and rebloggers on Tumblr.

 

Mako’s phone sounded as she flitted around her small lounge area, trying to make it look as if someone lived there. She didn’t want to try too hard - after all Raleigh knew she’d only just come to town - but unpacked boxes didn’t exactly make for a relaxing atmosphere.

She stopped in her futile attempt to plump meagre couch cushions and unlocked the screen of her phone, smiling at the notification of a message from her younger brother, Jake.

He’d taken their father’s death hard, as hard as she had, maybe worse.

She remembered him standing over the coffin as it was lowered, his handsome face carefully expressionless. 

The army had given him structure and confidence, but it had also helped him put up shields when he didn’t want anyone to see his emotions.

After the funeral he had hightailed it back to base, saying that he didn’t have much leave to use. But Mako knew that Jake wanted to lick his wounds in private, just as she had.

 

_ Hey. You doing OK? _

 

That was Jake. To the point. No frills. You always knew where you stood with him.

She tapped out a reply, asking him to come and visit when he had leave coming up. She hoped he did.

Jake had taken amazingly well to his adoptive sister. Mako hadn’t known what to expect, and, as a bereft, terrified little girl, hadn’t really been aware of Jake at first. But he’d shown amazing maturity for a kid suddenly saddled with a new sibling, especially one not related to him by blood. Perhaps he’d just known not to go against the will of the giant of a man that was Stacker Pentecost.

Whatever the reason, she had been grateful then. And was grateful now.

Jake replied again, but before Mako could slide the screen up, the buzzer of her doorbell sounded. She picked up the phone by her door. The tiny screen by the handset showed Raleigh’s face in the too-bright security light. Her heart bumped.

“Hey,” she said into the intercom.

He held up a bag. “Brought dinner.”

_ Was this a date? _ They had wine and food. 

Mako pressed a hand to her stomach nervously. They hadn’t even had the  _ are you single _ talk yet. Let alone the  _ I probably need to admit to myself that I fled a toxic relationship _ talk.

She buzzed the door open to derail her thoughts. She often knew that she thought too fucking much.

Mako swung open her apartment door just as Raleigh approached it. A slow smile spread over his face as he stopped a few feet short of her.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

_ He cleans up good, _ she thought, taking in the leather jacket over a winter-sky-grey henley. The top few buttons had been left open, revealing a tantalising triangle of skin. She wondered how ripped he was under the clothes. Her temperature rose a little.

His hair looked freshly washed, the tips damp. The top strands shone dark gold under the strip lights of her building’s hallway.

“Come in.”

“Thanks.”

She closed the door behind him, feeling anxious - but not about his presence. Something about Raleigh calmed her, grounded her. She knew as sure as she knew herself that he would never hurt her.

He offered the bag. “Steak sandwiches. Charmed a friend at the deli.” 

His cheeky smile was contagious and Mako felt her own lips curve as she took the bag. “Thank you. Do you.. Would you like some of the wine?”

“Please. Settling in okay?”

She looked at her place through his eyes. It was… sparse. She hadn’t invested time in adding her own touches and it showed.

“I think so.”

Mako busied herself in the kitchen pouring the wine. She eyed the postage-stamp sized kitchen table. It was  _ hella _ small. And eating at a table seemed so formal when there was a cosy couch right there.

Couch it was.

When she returned with the two glasses of wine, Raleigh had shrugged off his jacket and folded it on one of the arms of her couch. He stood with his back to her, looking at the meagre sleeves of vinyl she’d put on the bookshelf. She gazed at the strong line of his back and shoulders, and her palms itched to touch him there, feel the heat of his body, the contours of his muscles, under his grey shirt.

He turned at her approach and she offered the wine. When their hands touched, she felt that exciting tickle of awareness again. 

Did he feel it too?

They looked at each other and sipped.

“So…” Mako began. She didn’t often feel this awkward.

Raleigh searched her gaze, his own expression serious. “If this is weird, I can go.”

“Please, don’t.” Mako rubbed a free hand through her hair. “I’m…. not good at this. Making friends.”

“You’re doing fine.” He pulled a vinyl sleeve out of the stack on the bookshelf. “How about some music?”

His easy question settled her stomach. Mako pulled over the tiny, small suitcase sized vinyl player she’d bought at a flea market and accepted the record from him. “Fleetwood Mack?”

He smiled as he lifted the glass to his mouth. “It’s a classic. You’ve got some great records here.”

_ The Chain _ started to play and Mako plated up the steak sandwiches Raleigh had brought with him. The smell threaded up into the air and her stomach grumbled, reminding her how little she’d eaten throughout the day.

Raleigh dropped onto the couch and accepted a plate. Mako hesitated before sitting next to him. The music helped her relax a bit. 

This was good. This was  _ normal. _ A friend coming over, music, food, wine.

She could hardly expect to start a new life without any friends, could she?

She stared down at her sandwich.

Raleigh cleared his throat. “Mako…. I didn’t expect you to say yes to sharing the wine. And I don’t expect anything from you.”

Mako glanced over at him, searching his face, his earnest expression. 

He looked away. “I just wanted you to know that.”

His honest, unadorned words touched a place inside her that she thought she’d closed down while she’d been packing up her Toyota. “Thank you.” She curled her legs up under her, trying to get comfortable. “Tell me about the deli you got these from,” she began, unwrapping her sandwich from the thin, waxy paper. 

“It’s on the corner, opposite the dry cleaners.” He bit into his own and for a few moments they ate in easy silence, the music the only sound in the room.

A bird flew past the lounge window, visible thanks to the streetlights a few feet away from the front of the building, and Mako said the words that had been going around in her head almost non-stop since the previous night.

“I think someone was here. Watching me, last night.”

Raleigh coughed on a bite of sandwich, then set his plate aside and turned to face her. His mouth was set in a grim line now, all traces of his usual cheekiness gone. “What? Why?”

She told him about the footprints in the snow.

“Did you report it?”

“No. I thought…. Just that it was probably teenagers messing about. You know. Not a lot to do in a small town when it snows like this.”

“But you think that’s bullshit.”

She held his grey-blue gaze, razor sharp now. “I don’t know. And that’s the truth.” Mako clenched her fists and let out a long breath. “And I invited you here because… Because I trust you, and also because I didn’t want to be alone.”

A muscle in his cheek ticked. “Do you think it’s related to the tyre?”

Pushing her hands through her short hair, Mako considered the question carefully. “It scares me to think that.”

And not a lot scared her. Having your parents brutally killed in a motorway accident made lots of things pale in comparison.

Raleigh scratched his cheek thoughtfully. Some stubble still clung to his face, and she wondered if he’d shaved for her, for tonight. The thought made a little kernel of warmth spread through her. “And there isn’t  _ anyone _ you can think of who’d… be this fucked up?”

Mako moved her shoulders. “Well…”

Her ex was many things, but this just wasn’t his style. Was it? They hadn’t parted on the best terms, but she found it a massive stretch to believe that he’d travel all this way, in the weather they’d been having lately, to spook her. 

What would his end goal have been?

She pushed the theory aside.

“No. Maybe…. It’s a small town. Dislike of newcomers? Especially Asian ones?”

Raleigh’s mouth twisted in disgust. “If that’s even a little true, I’d like to get my hands on them.”

His instant jump to her defence warmed her insides again. Who knew they’d be having this conversation just days after they’d met as total strangers?

“Thanks,” she murmured, touched.

“Come on.” He nudged her plate. “Let’s finish our food before the steaks get cold.”

She noticed he set a few choice bits of meat aside and wrapped them back in the waxed paper.

Raleigh caught her looking and sent her a sheepish smile that made him look boyish, cute. “I’ve a hungry friend at home.”

“A hungry friend?”

“This stray cat.” A blush rose in his cheeks and it was so freaking _adorable_ that Mako had to stifle the urge to sigh out loud. “It’s stupid. He’s been coming around work for a while, and… I guess I took pity on him.”

“It’s not stupid.” An image of him, kneeling on the dirty floor of the bodyshop, coaxing a mangy cat to eat, made her heart bump hard in her chest. “It’s sweet.”

Raleigh smiled around a bite of steak. “A word every man dreams of being associated with.”

When they finished eating, he pulled his legs up on the couch and sat cross legged to face her. “You know. The tyre thing, it’s pretty serious.”

“If it  _ wasn’t _ a rock.”

His lips pressed together in a grim line. “I’d stake my career - such as it is - on it. The cut was too neat.” He reached up to scratch the place where his shoulder met his neck, and Mako saw a flash of metal.

“What’s that?”

“What? Oh.” Raleigh pulled at the chain until it snaked all the way out from under his henley. He laid the heart-length chain, weighed down by a pair of dog tags, on his chest. “Used to be military.”

“What happened?”

His gaze turned shuttered, and Mako wished she hadn’t asked. “Never mind,” she added quickly.

“No, it’s okay.” He picked up his wine, but Mako had a feeling it was more to give him something to do with his hands than to drink it. “I did a couple tours. For a while, it was everything I needed. Stability. Brotherhood. Then, it took my own blood brother away from me.”

“Raleigh, I’m sorry.” Mako stroked a hand down his forearm. She felt his muscles tense for a second, then relax. 

“Don’t be. It was… a long time ago. Feels like it, anyway.” He sat back, sipped his wine.

Mako mirrored him.

“You have any siblings?” he asked at length.

_ Safe topic. Okay _ . Mako cleared her throat. The wine made her feel warm inside, it was either that or Raleigh’s company. Or both.

“One brother, Jake. Younger than me. He’s military, too. Army.”

“And he’s at home now? Where you’re from?”

“He’s on tour, but I’ve asked him to visit.” She grabbed her phone and unlocked it, scrolled to a picture of her with Jake when he’d graduated basic training. 

Raleigh took it, smiling at the image. “You look so stoked for him.” He passed the device back. “He’s lucky.”

Mako put her wine down and pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms about her knees. It pleased her, beyond measure, that Raleigh hadn’t commented on the fact that she was clearly not a biological sister to Jake Pentecost. “I’m the lucky one. Adopted into a family whose child accepted me without question. One day I wasn’t there, the next, I was. And he was never a brat about it.”

Raleigh’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “Never?”

“Well… maybe one or two times.”

The record ended and Mako got up to put another on. She slipped her favourite Van Morrison album, the one with  _ Brown Eyed Girl  _ on it, from the sleeve, and set it on the turntable.

“You know..”

She turned from the record at Raleigh’s voice.

“It is serious. The cut tyre thing.”

Mako lifted her hands to rest on her hips. “What should I say if I go to the police? My tyre may or may not have been cut, and someone stood by my window. It’s a free county. People can stand where they want. I’ll look like… a lunatic if I report that.”

Raleigh huffed out a breath, and she could tell he wasn’t happy with her words. “I shouldn’t have brought it up again,” he said at last, his flinty blue gaze hard to read. “Just… be careful.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tender moment for Mako and Raleigh, and Mako runs into Chuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting off with getting into Raleigh's POV for a bit.
> 
> I'm loving writing this. Thanks everyone who's read and commented here or on Tumblr.

  
  


Uneasy with where they’d left the conversation, Raleigh stood by the window as Mako busied herself in the kitchen, making green tea. 

Whilst the fact she’d trusted him with the information about the prints by her window humbled him, his overriding emotion was concern. It was a hell of a coincidence that a few days after she turned up in the Bay, someone had peeked into her apartment. He’d bet his savings on the fact it wasn’t bored teenagers.

“Here.” Mako passed him a steaming mug of tea and he nodded his thanks.

She came to stand by him at the window.

“What are you looking at?”

“Can you open your windows?”

Mako furrowed her brow at him, and he knew she thought he was being paranoid. She gestured to the side of the window where a tiny lock was built into the frame. “Looks like they’ve got restrictors on them. The keys are in one of the kitchen drawers, but I haven’t tried to open them, yet.”

“Don’t.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then a sudden, stark sadness paraded so quickly over her face that Raleigh thought he’d missed it. 

She made a noise like a sob and then swallowed hard.

“What is it?” He set his tea down on her windowsill and settled his hands gently on her shoulders. She was so slight, but he’d known as soon as they’d met in the blizzard that she had a core of steel inside.

Mako met his gaze, her eyes wet. “I was just about to make a crack about you being my father or something.” She swallowed audibly again and pushed her free hand through the fall of her raven hair - so black it gleamed under the ceiling light in her lounge. “And for a moment, just a second, I forgot. My father died, Raleigh. Recently.” A tear escaped and slid down her cheek, plopping into her mug of tea.

“Fuck.” He bit the word out softly and took her tea from her, setting it next to his own on the sill. Since she seemed to need it, he gathered her small frame in his arms as she began to sob. It was the most natural thing in the world to stroke her silky soft hair as she pressed her face into his chest. Her tears soaked the fabric of his shirt and he let her cry it out, feeling the hard bump of her heart against him, his own heart clenching at the sound of her anguish.

He knew what it was like to lose someone.

Mako finally drew in a deep breath and wiped her eyes. Her face looked instantly calmer.

He expected her to babble something about being sorry. She didn’t, and he liked that. Liked that she didn’t apologise for her emotions. She let them out as if it was a totally natural thing to do.

If he’d behaved like that when Yancy had his accident, maybe he’d still be enlisted.

Maybe he’d still be a lot of things.

Raleigh dropped his arms from around her, immediately missing the warmth of her, the feel of her soft hair under his jaw. 

“Thankyou,” she said at length.

“Any time.”

He offered her her untouched mug of tea and she took it, dropping down on to the couch. “I wonder if I should have come here. Wonder what I was thinking.”

“You had your reasons.”

She looked up at him, and he knew she was wondering why the hell he wasn’t prying. But Raleigh knew what it was to have someone ask too many questions. He wasn’t going to be that person.

“It just depends how long your reasons stay valid.”

She nodded, her eyes unreadable, deep in thought - looking but not seeing.

“When my biological parents died,” she began, still staring ahead but not seeing, “I thought it was the worst thing. Like nothing that bad could happen again. Then Stacker Pentecost came into my life, large and loud and full of love for me, this orphan, and losing him was somehow like losing my parents all over again.”

“Oh, Mako.” Raleigh’s heart squeezed.

She swiped at her eyes again and blinked hard twice, then stood up. “I want you to know that I didn’t bring you here for a pity party.”

He held her gaze. “I didn’t, and don’t, think that. But I meant what I said, Mako. Be careful.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, obsidian eyes spitting fire. 

That was good. Anger suited her better than the hopeless sadness he’d felt as her body had clung to his. “I can take care of myself. I’ve had self-defense classes.”

He hesitated, caught between wanting to protect her and  _ not _ wanting to be thought of as man-splaining. “If you want a refresher, the gym - it’s behind the grocery store - holds open sparring sessions on a Sunday morning.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “Like fight club?”

“I’d hesitate at associating this town with anything as cool as that, but I guess it’s comparable. But it’s just for fun.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Sensing that she probably wanted to be alone, Raleigh grabbed the leftovers for Charlie, the mangy cat that often hung around  _ Gipsy Danger _ , and shrugged his coat on. He tucked the wax paper packet into the left pocket of his leather jacket. “Thanks. For having me over, when we barely know each other.”

“Thanks for looking after my car.”

She walked him to the door. On impulse, he lifted a hand and touched her cheek. Her skin was warm and soft under his calloused palm, and his pulse leapt when she leaned into his touch, just for a second. But the movement had been there.

Mako closed her eyes briefly as if having an internal argument with herself. “I don’t even know if you’re seeing anyone.”

“If I’m with someone, I don’t run around on them. It’s not my style, Mako.” He leaned forward and gently bussed her cheek as a goodbye. “See you Sunday, maybe. Lock this behind me.”

He turned, and just as he thought he’d lost her, maybe for tonight, maybe for good, she caught his hand.

Raleigh turned back.

“Thanks,” she murmured, and squeezed his fingers before releasing them. “For caring.”

“Anytime.”

At the end of the hallway he turned back to see her standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the soft lounge light and the brighter one that shone through from the tiny kitchen. The blue tips of her hair caught his attention and he smiled, giving her a lazy salute.

He waited until he heard the  _ snick _ of her door locking before he went outside.

 

*****

 

Mako headed to work via the coffee shop on Friday morning. Her head was full of Raleigh and the impromptu embrace they’d shared when she’d lost it over Stacker Pentecost.

She’d been about to say  _ Okay, Dad, _ as a jokey response to his command not to open her windows. 

But then it had hit her.

She didn’t have even one father anymore.

Stacker had adopted her after pulling her from the wreck of her parents’ car accident. She’d been lucky beyond measure to escape with only severe bruising.

_ If you could call losing both your parents lucky. _

Mako drew in a deep breath to calm herself as she reached the coffee shop. The majority of the snow had gone now. A few drifts here and there still stood a foot or so deep, but the pavements were walkable again, the air no longer like breathing shards of ice.

As she stood in line, her phone vibrated in her pocket and she fished it out.

 

_ In case I wasn’t clear yesterday, not seeing anyone. _

_ R _

 

She couldn’t help it, a smile curved her lips. It was too soon, wasn’t it, after her last relationship exploded in her face? But how could she pass up the built, blond mechanic with kindness in his eyes and the gruff catch in his voice?

The person ahead of her collected their drink and Mako stepped up to order a matcha latte. As she waited by the end of the counter, a voice interrupted her musings of what to send back to Raleigh. 

If anything.

“Mako, right?”

Turning, she saw Chuck - was that his name? - from Eureka standing in line. He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Hi.”

“Enjoying meeting all the fuck-ups ‘round here?”

Mako blinked at his words. An air of challenge vibrated off him in waves, and she wondered who, or what, had made him so angry at life.

“You including yourself in that?” she asked calmly.

To her surprise, he laughed. Some of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders.  “You’re all right, Mori. You free tonight? It’s karaoke down at our pub.”

She swallowed down her curiosity, still feeling raw from last night. She wasn’t ready to commit to anything other than Netflix in her pyjamas for now. “Not sure what I’m doing. Thanks for the offer.”

It was a lie and they both knew it. What plans could she possibly have? It was Friday and she’d arrived in Drift Bay four days ago.

Chuck left without another word and ten minutes later, Mako swung into the large room in the IT department that she shared with Newt and Hermann. Newt sat slumped over a gigantic mug of steaming black coffee; Hermann worked furiously on his blackboard with a stick of chalk.

The former looked up when she set her coffee down.

“Morning.”

“Morning.” She couldn’t help but smile at his hangdog expression. “What’s the matter?”

“Stayed up too late, working. Again.” He took off his glasses and used the tail of his shirt to rub at a smear on them. “Adulting sucks, dude.”

“Not that you’d know,” Hermann groused from the other side of the room. “You’ve hardly tried your hand at it.”

Mako rolled her eyes and got to work. 

One of these days, they were going to have to admit that they didn’t actually completely hate each other.

Mid morning, Hermann left to prepare for a lecture, and Newt dropped a fresh mug of green tea by Mako’s elbow. She was engrossed in a manual but looked up and smiled her thanks.

“Got any plans tonight?” Newt asked.

Mako closed the manual and picked up her tea. Her eyes were starting to blur from the text and she didn’t mind taking a break. “I don’t think so. You?”

“I, ah, usually go to the monthly karaoke night down at Eureka. It’s a good way to let off steam. Even Hermann sings sometimes.”

Mako’s brows lifted. “You’re not serious.”

“Dude, it’s worth seeing for sure. And the burgers are half off if you arrive before eight.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KARAOKE!! That is all. And Tendo shows his face. I love Tendo.
> 
> Thank you so much to Tumblr user @eadrey-the-iptscray for suggesting the song for Raleigh, and for all the encouragement.

Mako talked herself out of going to karaoke night. 

Then into it, then out again.

Finally at twenty-five past seven, she decided that, as she had barely a scrap in her tiny freezer, going to the pub would at least score her a half price burger; and the burgers had been awesome, so.

The street lamps lit her way in the all-encompassing darkness of the night. Winter was feeling like it would last forever the way the weather was going. She’d take a cab home.

She pushed her way through the heavy door of the Eureka, immediately enveloped by the familiar scents of beer and cooking meat. She scanned the tables and spotted Newt, Hermann and a dark haired man she didn’t recognise. 

Newt waved her over. He looked good tonight, a leather jacket thrown over a dark purple button-down shirt. His jacket was clearly new, seldom worn, unlike Raleigh’s battered coats.

The sight of Newt in leather didn’t set her pulse jumping like Raleigh did.

She briefly scanned the crowd. Herc pulled pints seamlessly at the bar while the piebald dog snoozed on one of the sofas separating the drinking area from the dining part of the establishment.

She didn’t see a messy blond head anywhere, and told herself she wasn’t disappointed. Not like they’d made a date. Of the two people who’d mentioned tonight to her, the mechanic wasn’t one of them.

Newt passed her a menu but she waved it away. “I know what I want.” She extended a hand to the third man to introduce herself to them, as Newt clearly hadn’t realised they didn’t know each other. The stranger had come smart this evening, in a storm-sky blue shirt with red braces. “Mako Mori.”

He grasped her hand, his smile infectious. “Tendo Choi. I work in Operations at the college. You likin’ this little slice of suburbia?”

“It’s fine so far.” She didn’t mention the footprints or the tyre. She’d felt fool enough in front of Raleigh, even though he’d taken her seriously. She opened her mouth to ask who, if any of them, was planning to make themselves a laughing stock in front of the microphone, when Chuck appeared, stained apron tied nonchalantly around his hips, surly expression firmly in place. 

His eyes lit on Mako.

“Wasn’t sure you’d show, Mori.” His gaze moved over the table in general. “I see you brought Laurel and Hardy with you.”

“Dude. That crack’s not even science or computer related,” Newt groaned.

Chuck rolled his eyes. “Whatever. What can I get’cha?” 

After a round of burger and soda ordering, Mako accepted the karaoke playbook from Hermann. It was battered, clearly well used, the seven laminated pages well thumbed. 

She skimmed the listings thoughtfully, waiting for something to catch her eye.

Newt nudged her. “ _ Tell me _ you’re going up.”

She eyed him. “Are you?”

“Newton can never resist making a spectacle of himself,” Hermann drawled. 

“Says the dude who once got a  _ standing ovation _ for belting out  _ Memories _ last month.”

Mako’s eyebrows shot up under her fringe.

“It’s true,” Tendo confirmed, sipping his soda as he clapped Hermann on the back. “This one had a fair few female admirers after that, didn’t you?”

Mako noticed that Hermann turned a particular shade of beetroot at his comment. A muscle ticked in Newt’s cheek, but he didn’t comment.

Someday it was going to blow up between the two of them, and Mako couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be a fly on the wall or as far away as possible when it happened.

A glass clinked, a microphone briefly screeched, and then a spotlight fell on the small performance space to the right of the bar.

Mako turned to see Hercules Hansen holding the mike, gruffly handsome in worn jeans and a checkered shirt. She pegged at him mid to late forties. Must’ve been young when he had Chuck.

“Evenin’ everyone, and thanks for comin’ to our karaoke night this month. The iPad’s going around so you can add yourself to the schedule. We’ll be startin’ in about ten minutes, but in the meantime, grub's up.”

A few cheers and hoorays followed him off the minuscule stage. From the chair by the bar, the bulldog looked up, scratched himself lazily, and put his head down again.

Mako’s table tucked into their burgers just as Hermann accepted the iPad from the crowd next to them. She watched Hermann scroll through what was left, muttering crossly in his clipped accent about how it was unfair that a song couldn’t be chosen more than once per night.

Eventually he passed it to Newt with a shrug. “It would be rather unfair for me to bring the house down two months in a row, Newton.”

His colleague laughed. “Just worried I’ll whoop your skinny ass.”

“I’d prefer that you do things to his ass in private,” Tendo muttered, catching Mako’s eye. She grinned conspiratorially with him. Tendo was easy to like.

“Glad you came,” Newt said to her as the first victim ambled up to stage to the opening chords of  _ Eye of the Tiger. _ “Sometimes I think, the Drift ain’t got much, but it’s ours. You know?”

“I do know.” It’s how she felt about her adopted family. Maybe Jake and Stacker had been at each other’s throats half the time, maybe she’d looked in the mirror and known she didn’t feel like she belonged, but they were  _ hers _ , and for that, they were, and forever would be, perfect. “And thanks. You and Dr Gottlieb, you’ve been very kind.”

“It’s kinda a relief to have company, gotta be honest.” Newt rubbed  a hand over the back of his neck. “Oh, man. Look at him up there.”

They both took a moment to watch the man butcher Survivor’s most popular song.

Newt winced in sympathy as someone threw a few kernels of popcorn at the stage.

“Oi!” Chuck shouted from the bar. “Hecklers get their beer watered down.”

“It’s true,” Tendo confided in Mako. “You think Australians are all laid back types, only concerned with when they can throw another shrimp on the barbie, but Herc protects his pub like his kid.”

Finally the young man slaughtering his song stepped down. The crowd cheered, possibly because he’d stopped torturing them.

Mako turned in her seat to see who’d be next, and just as she did, the door to the pub opened, bringing a wintry gust of wind, and Raleigh, inside.

His brown worn jacket hugged his shoulders. It was unzipped, and he wore a plain black sweater underneath. As he walked the hem of it rode up just enough to reveal the thick brown belt threaded through the loops of his jeans.

His blue eyes looked tired. The stubble ghosting around his jaw told her he hadn’t shaved this morning.

Just as she was about to look away, he caught her eye, and the edge of his mouth jerked up; his eyes lit. He held her gaze for a hot second, and then Mako looked away, uncomfortable with the realisation of how very, very much she’d wanted him to show tonight.

“Raleigh!” Tendo shouted, having not noticed Mako see the mechanic.

He walked over, and Mako took advantage of the semi-darkness of the pub to appreciate his slightly uneven walk, the one that always drew her attention to the length of his legs and the breadth of his hips.

She breathed in deeply.  _ Lust.  _ That’s all it was.

“Guys.” He pulled out the remaining chair, between Newt and Hermann. 

“Didn’t think you were coming, man.” Tendo held out a clenched hand and Raleigh fist-bumped it.

“Wasn’t. Changed my mind.” His summer-sky-blue gaze cut to Mako for the briefest of seconds before he pulled the playbook over.

Mako watched his hands as he turned the pages. Wide palms, long fingers. She allowed herself a moment to wonder what it would feel like to have his hands slide up her thighs before he parted them, and then she turned her attention back to her burger.

Herc called out a number and Newt jumped up. “Shit, it’s me.” He gave them an awkward wave. Tendo responded with a double thumbs up. Hermann called out; “Break a leg, Newton!”

The opening riffs of  _ Shake it Off _ by Taylor Swift boomed from the speakers and Mako had to laugh.

Newt did his best, throwing himself into it and bringing almost the entire crowd along with him. Even Chuck, who stood behind the bar, arms crossed, wore an amused expression, a nice break from his usually perma-surly look.

Newt earned himself a round of applause.

Mako laughed and cheered with her new friends as the next few songs passed in a blur of beers and floor-shaking music.

Then Herc called out another number and Raleigh pushed his chair back. “I’m up.”

Mako glanced up at him. She’d been about to say  _ I didn’t know you could sing _ but why would she know? They’d only met four days ago, although as she watched him make his way down to the performance area, the little tug at her heart made her feel she’d known him forever.

She pushed the sentimentality away.

“Rals doesn’t usually sing at these things,” Tendo said thoughtfully. Mako could feel the other man’s gaze on her face, but she didn’t comment, holding back a smile.

The chords of Journey’s mega-hit  _ Don’t Stop Believing _ pounded into the room and Newt stood up to cheer his friend. A couple of guys a few tables over, one of whom Mako recognised from  _ Gipsy Danger, _ whooped as well.

 

_ Just a small town girl _

_ Livin' in a lonely world _

_ She took the midnight train goin' anywhere _

_ Just a city boy _

_ Born and raised in south Detroit _

_ He took the midnight train goin' anywhere _

 

Mako barely realised she’d leaned forward in her seat, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.

Raleigh’s deep, slightly rough-edge voice translated well to singing. He conveyed the emotion of the song well, sounding soulful.

The whole pub had gone quiet to listen to him sing. It was the perfect song for him, Mako mused. The full-bodied lyrics and up tempo suited him perfectly.

When the song finished, Raleigh inclined his head to thank everyone for their huge round of applause. A faint blush crept up his neck. 

Mako wanted to bite him there, just where his pulse beat under the curve of his jaw.

Yep. Definitely lust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking it might be about time for a kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the kiss I promised! 
> 
> More trouble for out hero Mako. And a small bit of Newt/Hermann as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maleigh forever!

 

“Walk you home?” Raleigh asked as he shrugged on his leather jacket.

Mako watched his shoulders move with the task, then glanced outside. It was pitch black, the only light from the soft glow of the streetlamps. Yeah, she’d taken self defense classes and she was  _ good, _ but she wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t turn down the offer of a walk home by a man built like Raleigh Becket.

“Thanks. That’d be nice.” She slipped her hands into the pockets of her knee-length grey coat.

Newt came to buss her on the cheek to say bye. “Thanks for comin’ out, dude. See you Monday.”

“You, too.”

“Hey, Herms!” Newt called out to the other end of the room. “You comin’ or what?”

Dr Gottlieb walked slowly over from the direction of the bathrooms, leaning on his cane. Mako must have looked concerned, because Newt nudged her, a reassuring smile on his face. “He hates to be treated as if his leg bothers him, but don’t worry. I’ll wait. I always do.”

His words warmed her. 

Hermann reached the top of the short stack of stairs and nodded to Mako. “A delightful evening. Well, except for Dr Geiszler, of course.”

Newt rolled his eyes and pulled on his coat. 

Raleigh clapped Tendo on the back and the two men engaged in some sort of complicated-looking fist-bump-handshake before Tendo leaned forward to hug Mako. “Great to meet you.”

“You, too.”

She followed Tendo to the door. Raleigh did, too.

She noticed Newt and Hermann bickering over something at the table, but just as she was about to look away, Hermann reached out and smoothed away a perceived crease in the side of Newt’s jacket. The look on his normally humourless face was tender, and she quickly turned away, unwilling to intrude on such a private moment.

“God only knows when they’re gonna give in and just fuck each other,” Tendo said as the three of them stood outside in the cold.

“Mako ships it too,” Raleigh informed the other man.

Tendo laughed. “Just about everyone but  _ those two _ do. G’night.”

Raleigh lifted a hand in farewell as Tendo disappeared into the March night.

Mako turned in the direction of home and Raleigh fell into step beside her. The glow of street lamps overhead picked out the gold in his dark blond hair. 

“You’ve got an amazing singing voice,” Mako said into the darkness. Her breath came out in puffs in the frigid air.

“Thanks. I practice in the shower a lot,” he deadpanned.

_ Didn’t that bring some images into her head? _

“No trouble since…?”

“No footprints last night.” There was still frozen snow outside her window and around the lesser used areas on the site of her apartment block, so she would have known.”

“That’s good.”

Mako looked at Raleigh’s hands in the pockets of his worn leather jacket, the one that smells of sandalwood with the faint tang of motor oil, and wondered how it would feel to lace her fingers through his.

They walked companionably for ten minutes, trading the occasional comment about the songs chosen at karaoke, and then they were at Mako’s door.

She turned in front of the main intercom door to face him, looking up into his face. His eyes were very blue and his messy hair fell over his face a little. Without thinking, she reached up and brushed it away.

“Tidying me up?” he joked.

She would have dropped her hand, embarrassed although his tone was so jovial, but he caught her fingers and lifted her palm to his face, dropping a kiss into it. “Mako.”

Her name sounded so good in the rasp of his voice. She moved into the warmth of his body without even thinking about it. 

He smelled  _ amazing _ this close. Her gaze dropped to the almost-beard around his jaw, and she wondered how it might feel against the inside of her thighs.

“You blow me away,” he whispered. “Mako, I…”

She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t answer his silent question, and couldn’t do anything but nod, just once, as he pulled her into a hot, ferocious kiss.

His mouth was eager against hers, and when his tongue traced her lips to part them, she opened willingly, giving as good as she got.

She had anticipated his kiss for forever, it seemed, and she was not disappointed by the harsh tug of his mouth on hers, giving no quarter, expecting none. His assault made her weak at the knees, helpless.

“Mako,” he murmured, almost too softly for her to hear, and then she felt his mouth on her neck, at the thudding pulse point below her jaw. Pleasure ricocheted through her as he captured her lips once more, his thick stubble grazing her skin.

She threaded her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so their bodies were flush, and a little thrill wove through her at feeling him, hot and heavy, pressing against her lower belly. The knowledge that he lusted after her, too, made her feel a rush of power.

She almost arched up against him, but when his fingers crept under the hem of her sweater to stroke her bare skin, reality – and sanity – flashed their ugly faces.

Not without a bucket of regret, she broke the kiss. 

It was too soon for this.

Raleigh stroked a hand over her hair, not a single sound of complaint about her ending the kiss falling from his mouth. 

His blue eyes were soft, a little dreamy. Her heart pounded.

“I think I’ve wanted to do that since we met in the blizzard,” he said eventually.

“I’ve wanted you to.”

He touched his forehead gently to hers. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

Mako’s pulse kicked up. “Yes.”

She stood on the balls of her feet to meet his lips again. The kiss was soft this time, sweet, full of promise. Mako reached up and fisted a hand in the glorious scruff of his messy hair, like tattered silk between her fingers.

When they parted, he sighed, his expression caught between want and hesitation. “You’d better go inside.”

“Thanks for walking me home.”

He stepped back, tossed her that cute, lazy salute. She watched him through the glass window of the security door, enjoying the slight swagger in his walk, and then when he turned out of sight, she let herself into her quiet apartment, flopping down on the couch, feeling giddy, like a teenager who’d secured a date with their crush.

Later, before retiring to bed, she went out to her car to fetch a bag of odds and ends she’d left inside it. The bag held her favourite pampering face mask, and she’d not used it in a few weeks. Tonight, she felt in a pampering mood.

She felt  _ happy. _

But the bubble of joy burst at once when she got to her car and found the passenger window smashed.

 

******

 

Raleigh turned up a few minutes after the police. She heard his footsteps on the pavement as she gave her statement to the officer from the local station, a burly man with a buzz cut.

Mako turned to face him, relieved beyond words that he’d come, less than an hour after he’d left her building.

He opened his arms and she walked into them as if she belonged there.

“Thank you for coming.”

“Any time,” he said into her hair.

“We don’t routinely fingerprint vehicles,” the officer told her, “but since you’ve also had the footprint issue, which may or may not be related, I will.”

“Thank you.” Mako pulled back from Raleigh, feeling self-conscious about the public display of affection, no matter how reserved, in front of a stranger.

Although wasn’t  _ Raleigh _ a veritable stranger?

They watched as the officer set to work collecting any prints that might have been left behind on her Toyota. 

Raleigh squeezed her shoulder in support. “Want to go inside? Have some coffee?”

Mako nodded. She leaned against him for a moment, gathering herself, took a deep breath of his scent, already so familiar, so welcome, and then stepped back. 

“Would you like something, Officer?” Mako asked before turning.

He waved a hand, absorbed in his work. “No thanks.”

Raleigh let the main door swing shut behind them and followed her into her apartment.

Was it only last night they’d eaten steak sandwiches and talked about her father? Mako wondered. It seemed an age ago.

“I’m glad you called me,” Raleigh said into the silence.

Mako squared her shoulders. She wanted to scream. Wanted to cry. Had no idea what she wanted.

“What can I do?”

She looked up into his face, his ocean blue eyes, the determined set of his jaw. “Stay with me?”

“You got it.”

They looked at each other for a long moment. Unsaid things fell like leaves into the space between their bodies.

“I’ll make coffee,” Raleigh said, making for the kitchen.

Mako watched from the window as the officer finished making his observations on her Toyota. It looked like she wouldn’t be going to the big market out of town tomorrow, unless she wanted to do it with a bin bag taped over one of her windows. It wasn’t a good look for any car, even her small, aged Toyota.

The scent of coffee made her turn. Raleigh offered her a mug and Mako wrapped her hands around it. She was about to speak when the door buzzed. Setting her mug down, she left Officer Brooks inside.

He handed her a carbon copy of a report. “This is everything you told me, with a case number. Someone will be in touch, but if you think of anything else, or if you need an update…”

Mako nodded. “Thank you for coming.”

He touched a hand to his hat. “Lock your doors.”

_ If only that alone made me feel safe, _ she thought, but she nodded in agreement before closing her door behind him.

“Someone doesn’t want you here,” Raleigh said softly as Mako turned back to him.

“Or someone wants me back where I’m from. It won’t work.”

“You’re tough,” Raleigh said with approval. “But you need to be careful.”

“I’m not running away. I just got here,” Mako groused.

Raleigh cupped her cheek. “Have I told you how glad I am that you’re here?”

Despite the shock she’d had, Mako felt the corner of her mouth curve up. “Not since we left the pub.”

“Well, then.” He took her mug from her and put his down, too, before pulling her in for a kiss.

It was soft and sweet. Her stomach butterflied with nerves and excitement as his lips ghosted over hers, light as butterfly wings, sweet as the first taste of honey in summer.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako and Raleigh grow closer. And a surprise plot twist!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone who is readingf this.

Mako changed into her pyjamas after a brief call to Jake to fill him in on her situation. Her younger brother had sounded terse and worried at her words. He had some leave coming and would be down to stay in a few days.

She missed him. 

However strained things had been in the Pentecost-Mori home, between Stacker and Jake, she loved her brother. It’d be good to have company, and for them to talk. About Stacker, and about their futures.

She came out of the bedroom to find Raleigh arranging the pillow, sheets and blankets she’d given him. He’d offered to bunk on the couch, and she hadn’t been brave enough to turn down the offer of the barrier of Raleigh between her and the outside world.

Mako had mad self defence skills, but even she couldn’t wrestle a man straight out of a dead sleep.

“Thanks. For.. this.”

“You’re welcome.”

She moved her shoulders restlessly. “You didn’t have plans?”

“Not until late tomorrow morning.” He looked up at her from his position sitting on her couch, his tall frame folded. “Mako. I wouldn’t be here unless I wanted to be.”

She nodded, relieved to have company. But it was more than that. Raleigh made her feel safe. His easy company, his lack of expectations, his honesty, warmed her from the inside out.

“I have to tell you something.”

He raised a brow in question but said nothing.

“I didn’t just come here because my father died. I also… I had a toxic relationship back home. The break-up went badly.” Mako let her breath out slowly. She took a few steps closer, letting her gaze roam over Raleigh’s face, drinking in the ocean blue of his eyes, the scruff of  his unshaven jaw, the curve where his neck met his shoulder, exposed by his wide-necked black sweater.

“You think all this… it’s him?”

Mako drew her lower lip under her teeth thoughtfully. “I just doubt it so much. He put so little effort into our…. Relationship, that I can’t believe he’d travel so far just to spook me.”

“Can you check?”

“Yes. I’ll call my colleague in the morning - Emma. She’s a friend, too. A trusted one.”

Raleigh nodded. His eyes moved over her, and the expression on his face, one of curiosity and hunger, sent an arrow of heat straight to her centre.

“You look good,” he drawled.

“In my pyjamas?”

“In anything, I’m starting to think.”

She swallowed as heat suffused her cheeks. “Help yourself to… whatever from the kitchen.” Although she had slim pickings there. Embarrassed that her cupboard was practically bare, she folded her arms over her chest, trying to find a good segue to saying goodnight. “Are you sure you’ll be comfortable?”

Raleigh fished out his dog tags and dangled them. “After you’ve served, anything is an upgrade from a dirt floor. This couch’ll be fine.”

“Sleep well.” There was nothing else to say, and despite her knee-jerk urge to invite him to join her, it was way too soon for them. She knew it, so she bit the inside of her cheek.

“You, too.” Raleigh held her gaze for a second. “I’ll be here, Mako, Get some rest.”

Mako expected to lie awake for hours, thinking about the man only metres away on her couch, but the day caught up with her, and she dropped into sleep like a stone.

 

*****

  
  


Raleigh opened his eyes to the sound of birds chattering in the trees above Mako’s building. He’d slept amazingly well on the tired, low couch, but then being in the Army would do that to you.

He’d slept dreamlessly, accustomed to a light sleep with one ear always listening out for danger. None had come.

Maybe Mako’s insistence that the issues were just pranks and/or bored teenagers had been true. God knew he’d been hella bored enough growing up here. The Army had been his and Yancy’s escape. 

_ And look how that turned out. _

He pulled his mind from the gnawing memories and sat up, scrubbing his hands over his face.

He made himself a strong, black mug of coffee, and, hearing stirrings from the other side of the bedroom door, he made a second cup, left it by the door, and knocked.

A few minutes later Mako appeared with truly impressive bed hair. 

Even so, she looked cuter than anyone had a right to, especially within a half hour of rolling out of bed.

Raleigh jerked his head at the coffee mug and she bent to scoop it up. The scoop neck of her PJ top gaped as she did so and Raleigh exercised heroic restraint in keeping his gaze fixed on the ajar door behind her.

“Morning.”

“Morning. Thanks for the coffee.” She breathed in the steam from the caffeinated drink.

Raleigh stretched the kinks out of his shoulders. “What’s on the slate today?”

“A trip to the supermarket, either in a car missing one window, or by bus.” Mako grimaced. Neither option really appealed.

“I’d take you, but Saturday isn’t a good day for me. I’ve got a standing committment.”

If she was curious, she didn’t ask, but Raleigh found himself wanting to tell anyway. 

He held back, unsure if he was doing the right thing.

Her eyes searched his face for a moment, and he almost spoke, but Mako got there first.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. But thanks. I might see if Newt needs to go anyway and would let me tag along.”

“Good idea.” He stood up from the couch and stretched again, couldn’t suppress the twinge of awareness and pride that surfaced when he caught her gaze lingering on his abs. “Breakfast? I make a mean bacon sandwich.”

“Careful. I might never let you leave.”

Raleigh chuckled at her words, but they’d ignited curiosity inside him. What would it be like to wake up next to her, rub her blue-tipped hair between his fingers? Kiss her sleepy lips? Lose himself in her warm, lithe body?

He told his libido to calm the hell down.

She directed him to where her meagre kitchen equipment was located. Thanks all the Gods, there was bacon in the fridge, and eggs. 

Raleigh got to work, utilising the small jars of herbs on the little shelf above the hob. He heard the shower running as he cooked and let himself imagine the hot water on her bare skin for just a moment. How it might feel to knock on the glass door of the shower cubicle and for her to welcome him in with a crooked finger and desire in her eyes.

He pushed the wanting down and before he knew it, she returned to his side, hair damp, the blue tips curling in towards the slim column of her neck. She wore a plain white tee over boyfriend fit jeans. Her feet were bare, the nails painted the same shade as the razor-sharp ends of her hair.

She was too gorgeous for words, Raleigh thought, not for the first time.

He plated the sandwiches and offered one to her.

“I like a man who knows his way around a kitchen.”

“And a car.”

She flicked him a cheeky glance. “And other things, I bet.”

“Miss Mori, are you  _ flirting _ with me?”

“Depends,” she replied, perching on the arm of the couch.

“On what?”

“On how good this sandwich is. I have to know if you really do a bacon sandwich justice.”

_Man,_  Raleigh thought. _She loves bacon too._ _I’m a goner._

 

*****

 

“Gotta say, I thought someone who looks like you would have better plans on a saturday than cruising around a supermarket,” Newt said as he and Mako pushed carts side by side in the out of town grocery store. It was the size of a large village and had two floors.

“I could say the same of you.”

Newt snorted. “Geekiest guy in small suburban town doesn’t have a date on a Saturday. Quick, take out a page in the  _ Drift Daily. _ ”

Mako laughed as she tossed a packet of swiss chard into her cart. “No plans with Hermann?”

He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to reveal the tattoo sleeves that Mako thought were hella cool. Beasts and monsters intertwined on his forearms, along with a snake eating itself, an age-old symbol of eternity and renewal. “We’re not really.. A thing.”

_ Could’ve fooled me,  _ Mako thought, but didn’t say it aloud.

Her thoughts were confirmed when Newt threw a very austere paper into his cart, along with a paper that reported on ghostly goings-on and other paranormal discoveries.

She pictured them on the sofa together, elbow to elbow, reading their respective journals and drinking organic earl grey (Hermann) and Coke (Newt).

“What?” Newt asked.

Mako pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling.  “Absolutely nothing.”

 

****

 

Sometimes it bothered Raleigh that he didn’t feel the same panic every time. The same hope.

Now when he walked through the hospital doors, he just felt…. Nothing? No, not nothing. He just felt that he could keep his emotions on an even keel.

In past times, he’d brought flowers. But what was the point, for someone that couldn't see them? And probably couldn’t consciously smell them?

So now he brought books, instead. He was a regular face at the library and the used bookstore.

Last week they’d finished  _ War and Peace,  _  and then immediately afterwards he’d started  _ The Great Gatsby. _

“Always wondered if I was missing out, reading comics instead of the classics,” Yancy had said once during a long deployment.

Now he didn’t have to miss out, because Raleigh read to him for four hours a week, with a twenty minute lunch break, every Saturday afternoon. Most weeks he read for another hour, one weeknight, depending on what he had on his slate.

The nurse on Yancy’s ward waved to him from another station. He knew all the staff here now. Knew that Lottie had two grandkids, and that Mark painted for a hobby. Knew that Francesca sang good morning to Yancy every damn day, whether he could hear her or not.

He swallowed back the emotion and gave her a lazy salute, pretending to be cool.

But he never felt cool by his brother’s side.

Yancy looked the same as last week. Breathing on his own - that was meant to be a good sign. His hair had been neatly combed. He looked relaxed.

“Hey, Yance.” Raleigh lifted off his satchel and took the chair by the bed. “It’s Raleigh. You okay today? Mad weather lately, huh.”

He always greeted his brother just the same, as if the other man wasa conscious and awake, even though he’d never had a reply. In the early days, he thought he’d seen Yancy’s eyelids flicker once, but it had never happened again, and he had slowly lost hope.

Unbuckling his satchel, Raleigh pulled out a bottle of water and set it down by his feet, then opened  _ The Great Gatsby. _

“So… I wanted to tell you. I’ve met someone. Yance, she’s… she’s like no one I’ve ever met. God, I sound like a sap, right? But you’d love her. She’s… there’s something about her.”

He cleared his throat when he saw Lottie watching him speculatively, a smile on her face.

“Anyway. Where were we?”

And he read for two hours straight.

When his throat got sore, he held his brother’s hand instead, then spoke about his work at  _ Gipsy Danger, _ spoke about karaoke night, about Newt’s hilarious singing to Taylor Swift. “I wish you’d been there. They miss you. Tendo especially.”

When he left, he said what he always did when he parted ways with Yancy. “Wake up soon, old man.”

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sparring session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks anyone reading this. I love writing these two, and I'm on holiday at the moment so I'll keep it coming!!

On Saturday evening, Mako made herself soy, five spice and sesame oil pancakes with eggs, flour and the swiss chard she’d bought fresh from the market. Whilst it wasn’t the steak sandwich she’d shared with Raleigh a few nights prior, it filled a hole, and remained one of her favourite quick, budget-friendly go-to recipes.

She phoned Emma as she waited for her green tea to cool, and as the phone rang she wondered what  _ plans _ Raleigh had every Saturday.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Mako smiled at her friend’s voice. “Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“I… wanted to ask you about Gareth.” Just saying his name felt foreign on her tongue.

“Your ex?” Emma’s tone became immediately cautious. “What about him?”

“Has he been around lately?”

Mako didn’t want to say out loud that she suspected her old boyfriend of this. It seemed so… so much  _ effort. _

“On and off,” Emma replied. 

Gareth Wick was a business owner and contractor to Pentecost Tech. He’d hit on her after a meeting with Stacker and some of the other higher-ups, and Mako had been intrigued. 

Shame that Gareth hadn’t put nearly as much effort into their relationship as he had into that first pass he’d made.

Her mouth twisted, furious with herself for entertaining his advances and proceeding with a relationship.

“Has he mentioned me at all?”

Emma paused and the pause struck Mako as meaningful. “You’re _not_ missing him?”

“No!” The word sputtered out on a laugh that was half humour, half horror.

“Then why?” Emma asked.

“Just… I don’t know.” Hesitantly, she filled her friend in on all the strange happenings that had befallen her that week.

Emma sighed. “And you think….. Well, shouldn’t you give second thoughts to this new job? Your new home? The town doesn’t seem that safe.”

“That’s exactly what whoever is doing this wants me to think.”

“And you think that’s  _ Gareth?” _

Mako chuckled, her stomach settling. “I know. Seems far-fetched don’t you think?”

“What I  _ think _ is that you should be careful, no matter how lazy and uninterested your ex appears.”

“I will be.”

Emma made a  _ mmmm _ noise over the phone. “I’m coming down there first chance I get.”

After Mako hung up she checked her watch. Time to decide if she was going to the local sparring club in the morning. Her other option was cleaning her bathroom (ugh,  _ no _ ), or making a dent in unpacking the few, but large, boxes she’d carted here with her.

Sparring seemed like a great procrastination tool.

 

******

 

When she arrived at the gym, dressed in a navy lycra vest and loose yoga pants, Newt was already changed and sitting on one of the big soft sparring maps. He looked up when she called his name.

“Hey, Mori.”

“Hey yourself.” She stowed her bag and came to sit next to him. “You come every week?”

“Mostly.”

She cast an approving eye over his tattoos. “I love your ink.”

He grinned, his eyes lighting up behind thick-framed glasses. “You do?” He pointed out a few and explained their origin stories. 

“They’re so rich with life.”

Newt blushed but quickly covered it with; “chicks dig tattoos.”

Mako rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Deflect the compliment by saying something you think you should say. Something that hides how you really feel.”

He eyed her for a second. “ _ Raleigh _ has a tattoo.”

Before she could wonder - or ask him  _ where _ the tattoo was - several more people filed into the room, ending with Chuck. Raleigh was close on his heels. Mako’s heart lurched at the sight of him. Stupid. She’d only seen him twenty-four hours ago, but she’d  _ missed  _  him the way she had no business missing someone she hardly knew.

Still.

He caught her gaze and sent her that smile she loved. Barefoot like everyone else, his torso hugged by a sleeveless white vest, he sat cross-legged on the mat between Newt and someone she hadn’t met.

Chuck sat on the opposite side of the mats and nodded to her.

“You’re wondering where the tattoo is, aren’t you?” Newt asked. 

Mako rolled her eyes again, making him laugh.

“Morning, all.” Herc strode in, barefoot too, wearing loose pants and a grey t-shirt. “Good to see some new faces again today.” He winked at Mako and it struck her how friendly and open he was, compared to his son. What was the story there?

“A few ground rules for the newbies. This is  _ not _ real fighting. You aren’t here to get beat up by, or to beat up on, anyone else. And something else important - you’ll be paired according to level. Taking on someone who’s been sparring for months when it’s your first day is not only stupid, it’s bloody dangerous.”

Mako eyed Raleigh, wondering what his level was.

Herc gestured to the far wall. “Today we’re experimenting with bo staffs. They’re foam covered so don’t get any ideas” - he eyed his son, and everyone laughed “-and let’s have some fun. Anyone here experienced with staff combat?”

Mako put her hand up. She almost laughed out loud when Raleigh raised his hand, too.

The universe was throwing them together. Who was she to resist?

“All right - you two up for a quick demo?”

Mako nodded, and she saw Raleigh follow suit out of the corner of her eye. She mirrored him as he stood, resisted eyeing his backside as he took two staffs from the wall, tossed her one. She caught it easily, tamping down a smirk.

Oh, boy. He had no way to know that Stacker Pentecost had rigorously taken his two children to martial arts and self-defense classes. As soon as Pentecost Tech had taken off, Stacker had been aware that as a successful businessman there was always a chance his family might be in danger, and however small that danger was, her adoptive father had never been a risk taking man.

Mako had often come out on top during sparring in her class. It wasn’t something she bragged about; it had just come about through hard work and hours of practice in her bedroom and the local gym.

Raleigh met her eyes as they faced each other on the mat.

“Remember,” Herc reminded them, and the class in general, “It’s not a real fight.”

Raleigh’s lips twitched. Mako returned the smile.

They took a few steps forward and bowed to each other.

“I’m not gonna dial down my moves,” Raleigh whispered. “I feel like you could kick my ass.”

Mako swallowed back a laugh, surprised and pleased by his admission of fear, jovial though it was. “Okay then, neither will I. It’ll be a mutual ass-kicking.”

He grinned at her as they each walked back to their respective ends of the long mat.

Mako maintained eye contact with Raleigh as they moved towards each other. She studied his stance. He had a firm, experience hold with the foamed staff. This wasn’t his first rodeo.

She needed to see what he was made of.

He came for her and she let him, not flinching when he stopped the staff just short of her face. “One, zero.”

Mako didn’t let the smile show, instead she used his half-moment of triumph to execute a swift turn that had her own foam staff almost striking  _ his _ face. “One, one.”

Raleigh smirked, reading her. The understanding on his face, that she was testing him for his skills, surprised her, and he moved in, stopping the staff short of striking her unprotected stomach. He sent her a quick, dirty grin. “Two, one.”

The world shrank to the air scissoring between them, the heat building. Mako could feel the energy vibrating off Raleigh’s body, and the clearly fit physique under his clothes made her think about other fast, sweaty activities that they could perform  _ without _ an audience.

The thought briefly annoyed her. She’d come to Drift Bay to start a new life, after fleeing the one that contained two men she’d never see again, one she’d loved and lost, and one she hadn’t  _ ever _ loved, and instead within a few hours Raleigh had pushed his way into her head.

And maybe a tiny part - for now - of her heart.

She pushed her frustration into her swing and caught him off guard. She bared her teeth. “Two, two. Better watch it.”

He threw her a cheeky little grin as he retreated to his side of the mat, and she knew he was enjoying this as much as she was. 

They were perfectly matched.

Before Mako could begin her plan to have Raleigh flat on his back, where he deserved to be after that infuriatingly cute little grin he’d given her, Herc clapped his hands.

“Okay - that was fantastic. I think we’re ready to go into sparring pairs now. Any questions?”

No questions were forthcoming. As the group split up, supervised by Herc, Raleigh met Mako in the middle of the mat and held up his hand for a high five. She hit his palm with her own outstretched one.

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” The naked admiration on his face made her stomach turn over. A lot of men would feel threatened by her strength and agility.

“My father made sure Jake and I had self-defense classes.”

Raleigh leaned on the end of his staff thoughtfully. “Smart man.”

She swallowed at the kindness in Raleigh’s ocean-blue eyes. Not pity, just understanding. Who had he lost?

“He was.”

“I’m surprised you even broke a sweat at the creepy stuff goin’ on around your apartment, when you’ve got moves like that,” he teased.

Mako felt a flush rising on her neck. “I still felt safer with you there. I can fight for sure, but from a deep sleep? Unprepared and unarmed? Not a chance.”

Raleigh’s expression hardened and she saw a glimpse of the determined, dedicated soldier he must have been. “Nothing last night?”

“Nothing to report, no.”

“Good. Make sure to bring your car by Gipsy’s tomorrow and I’ll fix the window.” He stepped back before she could thank him, and twirled his staff around in a fancy move, showing off and enjoying it. “Want another chance to kick my ass?”

“Do I ever.”

“Brave words, Mori.”

She tilted her head like a tiger eyeing its prey. “I’ll have you on your back inside thirty seconds.”

“Now those  _ are _ words every man dreams of hearing,” he joked.

She was right though. Mako struggled not to smirk at him, twenty-three seconds later, as she looked down at him from above, bracing his leg on her foamed staff.

Raleigh lifted his hands in surrender, but his admiration of her was sketched large on his face, and it made her stomach turn over.

He  _ respected  _ her for her fighting skills. And he wasn’t intimidated by them.

Later, they switched out partner. Mako went a few rounds with Newt. He was short, but lean, pooling his effort into being fast rather than strong. She floored him, but it took effort, and she told him she’d been impressed. He went a little red in the face and Mako wondered if it was OK to make her boss - sort of? - blush like that.

As she and Newt squared off for another round, she caught Raleigh and Chuck circling each other on another mat. Mako paused for a better look, and noticed that everyone else in the room had done the same.

Chuck’s hair was wild as if he’d raked his hands through it. He had blood in his eyes and the tightness of anger clenched at his face.

Raleigh looked calm - eerily so.

_ What happened between those two? _ Mako wondered, sadly.

“What have I told you about sparring with Becket?” Herc roared from across the room.

A few people started in surprise at the timbre of his voice.

Chuck looked over. “This is none of your business, Dad.”

“It is if it's in in _my_ class. Both of you, time’s up anyway.”

Raleigh drew in a deep breath but lowered his hands, nodding to Chuck. He glanced over at Herc, about to speak.

However, the younger man had no such acquiescence in mind, and took the moment of Raleigh’s distraction to throw a punch. It connected with Raleigh’s jaw and jerked his head back. Mako involuntarily stepped forward without thinking, but Newt held her arm.

“Don’t,” he said softly.

Raleigh recovered quickly, rubbing his hand over the sore spot on his jaw. “Later,” he growled at the redhead.

“Oh, there’ll be a later,” Chuck threatened, before turning on his heel. As he passed his father, Herc tried to stall him, but Chuck pushed away the hand he offered.

Herc started towards Raleigh, but he held a hand out, palm up, and shook his head. “I deserved it.”

Mako had a moment to wonder what he’d meant by that before Herc dismissed everyone with an offer of meeting afterwards in Eureka for lunch if anyone was hungry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laughter in the rain and a brooding moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to people still reading! :)

Everyone filed out of the gym. Mako hung back, and Newt lightly punched her arm. “Coming for a burger?”

“No, thanks.”

He eyed her knowingly. “He sometimes goes to the beach. You know, to think.”

Mako hesitated a second, then decided there was no point in pretending when Newt could so clearly guess her thought processes. “Which way?”

He pulled a scrap of squared paper (the scientists and engineers' choice, Mako approved) and a tiny pencil from his pocket and drew her a sketchy map. “This okay?”

“Perfect. He won’t be mad?”

“At you? Never,” Newt assured her. “See you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Boss.”

He shook his head on a chuckle. “Just call me Newt. Everyone does.”

Mako shouldered her gym bag and glanced at Newt’s map before taking the path he’d outlined. When she turned a corner the path abruptly dropped off on a steep incline, and beyond that, she saw the deep, clear blue water of Drift Bay.

As she got closer, she made out a lone figure on the sandy shore. He must’ve hotfooted it to change and make it out of the gym before anyone else had.

Her shoes crunched on the small pieces of stone and shell washed up by the incoming tide, but Raleigh didn’t turn to face her.

She stopped next to him, glancing up at his face. His closed expression struck her as so at odds with the friendly, open man she’d known so far.

_ It’s been a week, Mori, _ she reminded herself.  _ You hardly know him. A bit of forced proximity doesn’t make you an expert. _

“Hi.”

He did turn to look at her now, a bit of the storm clearing from his handsome face. “Hey.”

“What did you mean? About Chuck?” she asked before she could think to censor herself.

“About deserving it?” he asked quietly. His words were almost lost under the sound of the water lapping at the sandy shore.

“Yes.”

He continued to stare out at the horizon. A little boat sailed infinitesimally slowly along the water, the splintery winter sunlight reflecting off its shiny, jauntily painted side panels. “I saw him yesterday. We.. said some things we shouldn’t have. I stormed off, didn’t let him finish. Didn’t want to hear it.”

“And that was enough for him to attack you?”

“I think he might’ve tried yesterday, but I didn’t let him. I should have, it would’ve saved us the audience today.”

He sounded so defeated that without thinking, Mako slipped her hand into the pocket of his leather jacket and linked her fingers with his. She had a second to profoundly regret such a knee-jerk choice, and then he squeezed her hand, and everything inside her relaxed.

“How’d you know where to find me?”

“Newt.” With her free hand, she showed him the tiny map.

Raleigh laughed as he studied it. “Welcome to one-horse-town life. Everybody knows your business. Even where you come to sulk.”

“Sulk?”

He smiled. “Oh, I’m sorry, I meant brood, like a  _ real _ man.” Still holding her hands, he rolled his shoulders, and Mako watched some of the tension fade from his stance. She smiled at his words. Thank God for her heart that wasn’t any more manly. His knock-me-down combination of touchable muscles and warm kindness just about cut her to the quick.

“Everyone gone over to the Eureka now?” he asked.

“Yes. I didn’t fancy a burger.”

“Is that so?” he asked, eyes sharp, and Mako knew that  _ he _ knew that she’d come to find him right away. 

That she’d cared enough.

She nodded. “That’s so. Courtesy of Dr Geizsler, I now have quite the fridge full of food. Maybe… I could cook? I still have some wine left from Friday.”

“You sure?”

She gazed into his blue eyes for a moment, the colour a rival for the lake before them. “Well, I do owe you for flooring you in front of all your friends.”

“Trust me, they were jealous,” he teased. “They’ll be lining up to be floored by you next week.”

Mako grinned at him, her mind on their kisses a few days ago. She wanted a repeat, to feel his lips on hers again. Taste him. 

It had been forefront in her mind ever since he’d walked into the sparring class this morning, looking quite honestly  _ lickable  _ in his workout gear.

Unsure of how he’d react to a surprise kiss, she instead used their joined hands to steer him away from the shore and back towards her house.

It wasn’t  _ home _ yet, but she hoped it would be.

Her phone chirped and she dug it from her winter jacket pocket with her free hand, smiling when she read the message on the brightly lit screen. 

“Good news?” Raleigh asked.

“My brother Jake is arriving on Tuesday night.” She glanced his way. “I can’t wait.”

“That’s great.”

They walked together for a few moments, Mako lost in her thoughts about her brother. How was he coping with the loss of their father? How many days’ leave did he have? They had a lot to catch each other up on.

“You know,” Raleigh began, “We could eat at my place. If you want.”

She  _ did  _ want, would love a change of scene. Her little apartment was getting a bit claustrophobic. But…. “I need to go back to my place. At least, first.”

Understanding flickered across his face. “To make sure nothing else has happened.”

“Yes. To my car  _ or _ my apartment. It’s not even mine,” she laughed weakly. “I rent it.”

Raleigh stopped and unlinked their hands, then cupped her face between his warm, wide palms. 

“And you just want to see for yourself that it’s safe. I get it.”

Her stomach flipped over at the feel of his hands on her cheeks. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, almost unconsciously, and then before she could take her next breath, Raleigh was kissing her, his lips gentle and warm on her own. 

Mako shoved her phone back into the pocket of her coat. Her hands free, she speared them up into Raleigh’s hair, clutching the tattered-silk-soft blond strands the way she’d fantasised about after seeing him at the garage. She leaned into the kiss, taking everything he offered, giving more. Their tongues tangled and Mako breathed in him greedily. He smelled of clean sweat, faintly of coffee, and the tang of motor oil that she’d come to find comfortingly familiar. She wanted to dive into him and drown and never surface.

Raleigh broke the kiss and whispered her name against her lips, sensitive from their kiss.

She rested her forehead against his, her heart pounding, unable to believe that they’d met such a short time ago.

“Let’s get some food,” he said at last.

Mako slid her hands down through his hair and let them rest on his shoulders for a moment, catching her breath. She had a flash of an image in her mind, of her lying naked above him while Raleigh lay below, that heady mixture of admiration and lust filling his ocean blue eyes as he gazed up at her.

 

*****

 

Relief swept over Raleigh when they arrived at Mako’s apartment and nothing had been harmed. He couldn’t quiet the little voice inside that said this was the work of more than bored teens, though. He was happy to be proved wrong.

Mako took a quick shower and changed into a thick, forest green jumper with jeans. The colour brought out the darkness of her hair; the bottomless chocolate brown of her eyes.

Maybe he was half in love with her and didn’t know it yet.

_ Gotta be careful _ , Raleigh thought, mentally rolling his eyes at himself. If he didn’t watch it he’d be drawing little hearts on his costings pad at the bodyshop and doodling  _ Mr Mako Mori _ in the margins.

He hadn’t met anyone like Mako before, and he wanted to make sure she had at least a decent chance of putting down roots in this town before he let himself walk towards the cliff edge of deep feelings.

Yancy had always warned him about wearing his heart on his sleeve. Although his words had been more like  _ Hey Rals, maybe stop wearing that sandwich board with FREE HUGS written on it all around town. _

Raleigh had shot his brother the finger, but Yancy had it right. He did feel deeply, whether he wanted to or not.

“I’m ready.” Mako slung a backpack over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll drive you home, later,” he promised.

She gave him a long look, and something shifted in her eyes that made him think maybe she wouldn’t being coming back here tonight, but it was gone before he could examine his thoughts on it too closely.

“Thanks,” she said simply.

They walked back to the gym. A light rain had started to fall by the time Raleigh opened the door of his truck for her. As soon as he started the engine,  _ Better _ by Regina Spektor starting flowing from the speakers.

Mako leaned her head back against the seat. “I love this song.” She turned her head to look at him. “You have eclectic taste in music.”

“I prefer the descriptor  _ awesome _ .”

She grinned. “That, as well.” The curve of her lips it lit up her whole face. Raleigh wanted to be the one to make her laugh and smile all the time.

The rain continued as he drove the short distance back to his house. He and Yancy had owned it together for a few years. 

Now Raleigh lived in it alone, but touched absolutely nothing in his brother’s room, hopeful that the older man would come home one day. And everything would be balanced in his world once again.

Raleigh shut the engine off and rounded the truck to open the passenger door for Mako. He started to offer her his hand, not surprised when she simply hopped out instead, easily making the jump to the ground from the elevated cab.

As he opened his mouth to speak, the rain started to pelt down, the heavy, fat drops quickly weighing down their clothes. Mako slammed the door of the truck shut and Raleigh grabbed her hand.

There was mischief dancing in her dark eyes as she said “Run!”

They sprinted up the path to the house together, pass the overgrown front garden. Mako’s sneaker slid for a second on one of the wide paving stones but Raleigh righted her, and in no time at all they stood huddled under the storm porch, looking out at the weather as the rain continued to do its worst. 

Mako snuggled into Raleigh and he curled his arms around her. Her face fitted perfectly into the curve of his shoulder and he thought how he’d stay here forever in the rain, just to hold her.

“Raleigh.” Her voice jarred him from his thoughts.

“Hmmm.”

“Key.”

The wind chose that moment to blow a scatter of rain right into his face and Raleigh had to laugh at mother nature messing with his moment. “Yep.” He pulled the ring of keys from the pocket of his jacket, eager to get inside and change his wet clothes.

The door stuck a bit as it usually did, but in short order he had them in the warm and dry. The house always felt like a big comforting hug to Raleigh, because he felt Yancy there, in every book he read, in every dish he washed. His brother was part of the house and that would never change, whatever happened in the hospital.

Mako shrugged off her coat and hung it on the line of pegs on the hallway. “You live here by yourself?”

“Lately, yeah.”

She gave him an odd look and he realised that the way he’d said it sounded like he’d just been through a break up or divorce. “It’s not what you think. My br-”

The sudden chirping of Raleigh’s phone cut him off. He cast Mako an apologetic look as he fished it from his pocket and answered.

When he hung up it was with a grimace. “Local breakdown guy’s sick and someone needs to be towed. Listen.. Will you wait here for me? I owe you lunch.”

Her smile was hesitant and Raleigh knew she  _ did _ suspect he was on the rebound from a break-up. He  _ was _ grieving, but it wasn’t what she thought, at all. “You don’t have to feed me.”

“No. But I’d like to.” 

She held his gaze for a moment. He felt a breath of relief whoosh out when she replied, “How about I feed us both? You okay for me to have a look around your kitchen?”

“Help yourself,” he said truthfully. When he got back from this call, he’d tell her all about Yancy. It was about time he opened up to someone, and Mako made him want to give her everything.

So maybe he _would_ give her everything.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of cosy time for our two would-be lovers, and Mako finds out about the other Becket boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for anyone reading! I am having a break from potty training my toddler....
> 
> #nopooponthecarpetyet

 

The scent of cooking meat combined with the turn of a key in the lock made Mako stir.

She looked down at herself and bit back a laugh. She lay on Raleigh’s couch, a blanket over her legs and one of his sweaters, black as night and soft and woolly, tucked under her head as a pillow. It smelled like him and she’d grabbed it without thinking to lie on.

Wouldn’t he be tickled by that?

After he left, she’d rifled through his fridge and cupboards. Not much there, but she’d jet defrosted a pack of minced beef in the freezer and had dumped it in a big pan with herbs from a few tiny pots on his windowsill - hadn’t figured him for a gardener, really - a pack of canned tomatoes and some sauteed onions. She hadn’t made a bolognese for an age, no time usually, but it smelled good now.

Mako sat up and stretched, thinking to boil water for the pasta, as Raleigh appeared in the doorway, shrugging off his leather jacket. His hair was wet, half-plastered to his head, and after he hung his jacket up he ran his hands through the pale gold strands, scattering drops everywhere.

“Hey. Something smells amazing.”

Mako looked up at him, resisting the knee-jerk urge she had to walk over to him and kiss him hello as if he was a long term lover.

“We met a week ago tomorrow,” she blurted out.

Raleigh blinked and she realised she’d said that out loud.

“Okay,” he replied, obviously waiting for her to add something.

She was just going to put it out there, and hang the consequences. “How I feel about you…. Is not how I should feel about someone I only met a week ago.”

After a moment Raleigh leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms. He held her gaze. “Says who?”

Mako released a long breath. Should’ve known he would decimate her argument with a couple of sensible words. “Says the fact that I  _ just _ moved here, and I  _ just _ got out of a terrible relationship, and  _ you, _ you are too…”

Raleigh crossed the room to the couch and crouched down, settling his palms over her knees. “I’m too what?”

“Too perfect.” She leaned forward and for a second rested her forehead on his, just breathing him in.

“There’s something you should know.”

Mako sat up, searching his face, her stomach flopping with horrible nerves. “You’re married.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I’m not married. Never been married, either.”

“Okay.” Her stomach growled out loud and now it was Mako’s turn to laugh. “Let me just put pasta on.”

Raleigh followed her to the kitchen - part of the open plan downstairs, it was separated from the lounge area by a half wall that stood behind the sofa. Some shelving had been built up to the ceiling and held various odds and ends that looked as if they’d been picked up at thrift stores or gifted to Raleigh by travelling friends.

He opened a cupboard and passed her a bag of dry macaroni.

Together they went through the motions of getting it ready before Mako turned up the heat and set the lid on the pot.

“I’m ready.”

“When I told you the Army took my brother from me - they _did_ , but he isn’t dead. He’s in a coma. Has been for some time. I visit him, that’s where I was yesterday.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open to show her a picture of two men. They both wore army fatigues and big goofy grins. One was Raleigh and the other must have been his brother. He had a kind, mischievous face and an infectious smile. "This is Yancy."

Mako’s heart clenched, hard. “Raleigh.”

“I should have told you sooner.” He put the wallet back, but not before giving the picture a long look.

“I understand why you didn’t.” A little crack rent her heart in two.

They stood looking at each other for a long moment, hundreds of unsaid words floating between them, littering the silence.

“There’s no need to put a label on it, you know,” Raleigh said at length. “This. Us.”

She felt her lips curve. “And what  _ is  _ this?”

“We’re friends.”

“Who kiss.”

“Friends who kiss. Can’t argue with that.” He arched a brow, daring her to argue anyway. 

“All right. I can’t.” Because she also didn’t want to argue, she simply went to him and let him hold her. As his arms wrapped around her, she leaned into the steady thud of his heart and allowed herself to revel in how  _ right _ being with him felt, whether it was sensible or not.

She’d let her head lead her for most of her life. Maybe it was about time her heart had a say in the matter.

 

******

 

Almost without really talking about it they settled on Raleigh’s sofa with the food on their laps, talking whilst eating. Afterwards, Raleigh set the plates in the kitchen and flicked on the TV. He grabbed a big, cosy blanket draped over the back of an ancient armchair next to the couch and tucked it over Mako before sitting down next to her.

Mako leaned back and settled her legs over Raleigh’s, so her knees were hooked over his thigh.

As he scrolled through the endless choice on Netflix, Raleigh marvelled on how Mako was right - it really did feel like they’d known each other for an age, and certainly a lot longer than a week.

“What’re you in the mood for?”

Mako sleepily peered at the tv, rubbing her stomach. “I’ve got too much of a food baby for anything that requires too much attention.”

“Tropey action movie?”

“Excellent,” she agreed.

They both tossed snide comments at the heroine’s complete lack of appropriate clothes and the hero’s blustering smoulder in the face of explosions, but at the halfway point, Raleigh noticed that Mako had stopped contributing (a shame, turned out she had an acerbic wit that had him in stitches).

He glanced over to see her conked out on the couch, her head on one of the cushions, her legs still hooked comfily over his own.

He hated to wake her, so he watched the last hour of the action flick, right down to the explosive but predictable ending, by himself.

When he turned the tv off and she still didn’t stir, he gently shook her shoulder. Still nothing. Wow, she must be  _ exhausted. _ He briefly entertained carrying her upstairs to sleep, alone, in his bed, but thought that might disorient her. 

He had a feeling that he had a chance, a real chance, with this amazing woman, and he wasn’t going to do a damned thing to wreck it.

Raleigh gently lay her down on the couch and made sure she was tucked in with the blanket. He left a glass of water for her on the coffee table and took himself up to bed.

It was a couple of hours before sleep came, before he could stop thinking about the woman downstairs on his couch, and what she was coming to mean to him.

  
  


*****

 

The winter sun shone valiantly through the early morning clouds as Mako made her way back to her apartment. She knew a goofy smile plastered her face, and she didn’t care.

She’d woken up an hour earlier, tucked up on Raleigh’s couch. The blanket smelled of him and she had briefly hugged it to her, wondering if she would see him beside her when she opened her eyes.

Evidently he was too much of a gentleman to have laid down next to her, because the other side of the wide couch sat empty. Mako had smoothed her hand over it, wishing her palm caressed Raleigh’s face.

She’d made herself a coffee and dawdled. When he still hadn’t stirred - well, it was only seven am after all - she’d left a note by the coffee machine and made her way out.

Now she turned the corner to the street she lived on. The place she was rapidly thinking of as  _ home. _

Jake would be here tomorrow. She had Raleigh and Newt and Hermannn in her life. Her job was good, if lacking variety, but she had some ideas for that.

Life was looking up.

Mako turned her face to the sky, thinking that she’d need to do some stargazing tonight and work out which star in the heavens belonged to Stacker Pentecost.

Her good mood abruptly plummeted when she arrived at a car to check it over for any further damage.

The binbag she’d taped remained in place, but on the hood lay the carcass of a dead fox, its eyes glassy in death.

Mako threw up the coffee in her stomach.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt helps Mako forget about her troubles for a bit.
> 
> Some Newt/Hermann, and drinking.

“Dude. You could’ve said something earlier.”

Mako looked up into Newt’s kind eyes behind his thick glasses, hoping she didn’t smell too much of vomit.

“And mark myself out as a problem child in my first week?” She replied, hoping her comment came off as flippant and not simply pathetic.

Newt smiled. “Ok, keep in mind, you’re looking at the poster boy for problem children.”

Mako rested her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. “Who’d do that, to a living thing? People killing each other, it’s abhorrent, but I understand it. People do things to annoy and enrage each other.” She gestured to the car. “What did that fox ever do?”

The same officer who’d come out to her broken window call had arrived ten minutes ago and was inspecting the area. When he’d arrived, he’d given her a  _ look, _ like there was one common thread in these two cases and it was her.

Mako couldn’t blame him.

When Newt had passed the scene on his bike on his way to work, Mako almost wept with relief. Her first instinct had been to call Raleigh, but she had hesitated reaching for her cell phone. He had a job. She couldn’t expect him to drop everything for her, no matter what had happened.

_ Stubborn, just like me, _ Stacker would’ve said, gently chiding, but unmistakably pleased that something of him had bloomed in his daughter, even though she wasn’t his blood.

Mako would ever be his daughter, for as long as she drew breath.

“It’s fucked up,” Newt said simply.

The officer finished bagging the evidence and handed her a copy of the paperwork. “If we find anything, or if any of the prints I’ve taken here match anyone in the system, we’ll notify you, Miss Mori.”

Mako looked up into the officer’s face. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

His hard face softened, momentarily. “Take care, okay?”

After he got back into his patrol car and drove off, Mako leaned against Newt. 

Her co-worker put his arm around her and squeezed. “Coffee?”

Mako chuckled darkly. “Don’t suppose we have anything stronger at the office?”

“No. But...” Newt yanked his cell from his pocket and dialled. “Yo, Herms. Yeah, I know you hate it.” He listened for a moment. “Let’s pretend you weren’t that rude to me this early. Do you have any of that fucking  _ awful _ Jägermeister at home? Okay. Whatever, dude, it’s alcohol. Are you home now?”

After a few more minutes of chat, he hung up, then climbed back on his bicycle and offered her a hand up. 

Mako eyed it suspiciously. “I don’t think those are designed to be ridden tandem unless there’s  _ specifically  _ two seats.”

Newt scoffed. “You’re such a nerd, and bear it mind, Mori, I say that as a  _ class A  _ nerd myself.”

That made her smile. “I’m meant to be taking the car over to Raleigh this morning,” she hedged, gesturing at the bagged window. 

Newt rolled his eyes. “Excuses, excuses. Can’t you text him and leave the keys in  a safe place? Do you want to get drunk on terrible German alcohol this morning, or not? Think carefully before you answer.”

  
  


****

 

Raleigh tapped his foot along to The Chainsmokers’ hit  _ Young _ as he worked on a clapped out Mini. The music wasn’t the only thing that put a spring in his step. Mako would be bringing her car by later to have the window fixed, and that would mean he’d get to see her again. 

The thought of her sleeping soundly on his couch, the fact she felt  _ safe _ in his home, made his heart light with unexpected joy. He'd been gutted not to have seen her this morning, but his black sweater was missing. He hoped that meant she was wearing it. And he hoped  _even more_ that one day he'd get to take it off her.

Charlie, the mangy cat that hung around  _ Gipsy Danger, _ rubbed up against his leg and meowed plaintively. Raleigh glanced down at the tom with feigned disgust. “I bring you steak offcuts and  _ this  _ is what I get in exchange? Just more pestering?”

“You love it,” Derek, one of his fellow mechanics, yelled out from the back of the shop.

“I can’t deny it,” Raleigh sighed. 

He petted the cat, leaving a small smudge of engine oil behind. Charlie didn’t seem to mind, just wove his long body around Raleigh’s legs, his purrs interspersed with the occasional plaintive, drawn out meow, just to make sure Raleigh hadn’t forgotten his presence.

The shrill toll of a bicycle bell made Raleigh look up just as Derek said “Uh - boss, is that the new tech and Newt riding a bike..?”

Newt hit the brakes just as the vehicle reached the front of  _ Gipsy Danger _ , and Mako grabbed on on to the handlebars to keep herself steady. She was perched on the front of the bike precariously, her dark hair all aflutter around her face, brown eyes bright, and she wore his black sweater. The sight of her lean form draped in the soft black wool, and the thought of her scent on his clothing made his heart lurch.

Newt hopped off the bike and helped Mako off. “Hey, Rals.”

“We’re on our way to drink bad German liquor at Hermann’s,” Newt chirped.

Raleigh came over and looked from Newt to Mako and back again. “You _are_ aware that it’s nine a.m?”

Raleigh met Mako’s gaze. She and Newt looked too bright, too happy. Something had happened and Raleigh sensed that Newt was trying to keep Mako from falling apart. “You ok?” He asked Mako evenly.

She held his gaze. “Can we talk later?” She held out her hand and dropped her car keys into his open palm. Her fingers trembled just a little, but enough that he noticed. “For the window.”

He curled his fingers around her keys. “Definitely later. Be careful with the Jägermeister. Had one of the worst hangovers of my life on that shit.”

But he had the impression from Mako’s face and her troubled eyes that an awful hangover would be the very least of her problems.

 

*****

 

“And then the utterly intolerable fellow says  _ And where do you suggest I put it?” _ Hermann finished the story with a slightly shaking hand as he poured them all another shot of Jägermeister, some of the liquid dribbling on to the large, scarred wooden table in his kitchen, missing the glasses.

Mako and Newt had been in his kitchen for two hours, and the almost full bottle of alcohol was now looking half empty.

Newt eyed the bottle and then glanced at Mako. Mako hadn’t noticed, but he’d bet half his paycheck that Hermann had, that Newt had been surreptitiously pouring half his shots in Hermann’s peace lily that sat by the table. He hoped the plant would survive this little drinking session.

Newt Geiszler had lived in Drift Bay his whole life, and nothing like what was happening to Mako had ever stirred up this small town. He’d be damned if he was going to let some psycho chase away the first decent tech he’d had in quite some time. Mako Mori was becoming his  _ friend, _ and Newt took friendship seriously.

One of the myriad reasons why he hadn’t yet made a move on one of his closest colleagues.

He studied Hermann as the older man furrowed his brow while pouring more of the herbal liquor into the small shot glasses. They were novelty, a set of shot glasses shaped like real chemical beakers, even with measures printed on the side. Hermann pretended to hate them, but the fact they came out at every drinking session proved otherwise. Some of the measure lines on the glasses were slightly faded from use, and he’d often pictured Hermann’s long, pale hands on them. As well as on other things.

Newt forced his mind back to the current situation as Mako set her empty shot glass down again. She smiled weakly at him. “Thanks. I needed this.”

“Newton is surprisingly apt at knowing exactly what is needed at any given time,” Hermann said softly. Newt met his colleague’s eyes, hs heart squeezing.

And because he was touched, he did what he always did when he got those pesky feelings. He deflected. “Dude, was that an actual compliment?”

“I shall neither confirm nor deny,” Hermann replied, smiling into his shot glass.

Because he and Hermann were good friends as well as good co-workers, they lay Mako down on Hermann’s couch and covered her with a thick woollen blanket as she drifted off to sleep.

Newt watched for her a second before going to make a strong pot of tea, Blueflower Earl Grey, Hermann’s favourite brew.

As the tea steeped, he looked down at his tattooed forearms against the severe black granite of Hermann’s kitchen counter and thought how out of place he looked against the stark minimalism of his colleague’s home.

Nothing about Newt was minimalist, after all.

He carted the teapot and two delicate china cups into the living area, where Hermann was putting the Jagermeister away in his cocktail cabinet. Another object from yesteryear, it suited the Dr and his old-world home and appearance (sweater vest, pressed trousers) perfectly.

Newt eyed his friend. “You were only pretending to drink, too, huh, dude?”

Hermann steadied himself on the back of a chair before sitting down heavily. “Part of the time. I did not do an optimal job, unfortunately.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Whom do you think is perpetrating these… acts, Newton? In our home?”

The way he said  _ our home _ made Newt feel warm inside, although he knew Hermamnn meant the town and not that they shared a house.

He poured the tea. “Pretty sure that it  _ must _ be someone from Mako’s home town. Right? No one knows her here. Not well enough for this shit.” He gestured vaguely to encompass what they were speaking about.

Hermann nodded thoughtfully. “Some past love, perhaps. Wanker.”

Newt almost snorted tea from his nose at the expletive from Hermann’s lips. “Dude. You  _ are _ drunk.”

They shared a smile over their tea as Mako slept.

  
  
  



	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raleigh looks after Mako. A pure fluffy chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the looooonnnngg delay in an update! Life and other fandoms carried me away.

 

A sudden wave of protectiveness crashed over Raleigh as he watched Mako walk towards the bodyshop. He set down the beer he’d been nursing over the last hour and stood to greet her.

She looked better, more colour in her face. The startlingly blue ends of her hair never failed to raise a smile to his lips.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

“Hey.” Her smile faltered a bit.

He tossed her the keys, and she caught them in mid air deftly. “Window’s all fixed.”

She came to stand by the messy kitchen table he and his colleagues affectionately called an “office area.”

“Thanks. I mean it. What do I owe you?”

“Bill’s in the glove box.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You said that last time, and it wasn’t.”

“Maybe I’m a generous kind of guy.”

“But-” Mako stopped and looked down suddenly. Charlie was winding his way around her legs. “Hey, little guy.”

“I wouldn’t,” Raleigh said mildly. “Give him an inch and he’ll take five miles.”

She stroked him anyway, a smile tugging at her lips, and Raleigh felt that smile all the way down his body. The glow of wanting her settled low in his belly.

“Let me pay you,” she said as she petted Charlie’s head. The cat arched into her touch, and Raleigh thought how fucking  _ absurd _ it was that he felt the little prickle of jealousy. “Please.”

“How about having dinner with me?”

Mako pursed her lips. “Which I will pay for.”

He felt himself grin. “We’ll see.”

“You’re impossible. Anyone ever tell you that?”

His smile faded. “Yancy used to. Every day.”

“Well, he was right. I look forward to meeting him one day and telling him that.”

His heart clenched. “Mako, didn’t you hear-”

She folded her arms over her chest, and Raleigh got the distinct impression, and not for the first time, that she was a force to be reckoned with. “Oh, I heard, all right.  _ When _ he wakes up, I want to meet him. And we’re going to spend a long time together making all kinds of fun of you.”

_ God bless this woman, _ Raleigh thought. “He’ll really like you.”

A smile played on her lips. “I hope so.”

“Well, I  _ know _ so. Let me take you to dinner. It’ll be my pleasure.”

Mako inclined her head and tugged at his black sweater and then at her jeans. “But monsieur, I am hardly dressed for dinner a la carte.”

He laughed out loud at her quirkiness. “First of all, that is  _ the _ worst French accent I have ever heard. Newt is having a terrible effect on you. Second of all….”

“How about pizza?” she interrupted.

Raleigh clapped a hand to his heart. “I think you’re my dream girl, for sure. No doubt about it.”

Her face went girlishly red for a moment. “Raleigh…”

“Let’s get pizza. Don’t make it more or less than that. My place? I’ll even throw in a terrible action film.”

Mako spread her hands. “How can I say no?”

Raleigh said goodnight to the two other mechanics working. Derek promised to lock up and Raleigh tossed him the keys, pulling on his black knit cap against the chill of the March evening.

 

*****

 

Mako stirred in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent. Raleigh stroked a hand over her hair as she snuggled into him, dreaming.

If it was up to him he’d forever wrap her in blankets, cosseted from the world and its evils.

But he’d never have expected to hide her away in his home town.

They’d watched  _ The Meg, _ a ridiculous sci-fi movie about a prehistoric shark. Raleigh had ordered in a massive Four Seasons pizza and they’d split it, fighting over the last few cheesy bits of crust in a playful way. Raleigh felt in those moments that Mako had been in his life much longer, a constant, a guiding light in his heart. Like a part of him had always known her.

That was mad. Wasn’t it?

He’d spent a fair portion of his day making enquiries, subtly, about anyone who seemed irritated or inappropriately annoyed at Mako for arriving in town, but had failed to get anywhere with his questions.

It  _ had _ to be someone who’d followed her here.

Her brother was arriving soon, right? Jake. He might be able to shed some light. Raleigh’s stomach uncurled a little at the thought that she’d soon be joined by someone from home, someone who’d unequivocally have her back, no matter what.

_ I will. _

He knew it as sure as he knew his own name. As she curled tighter into him, he breathed in the already familliar scent of her hair, and knew he’d fight for her happiness in this town.


End file.
